Car sales in May fell by almost 21% year-on-year in the UK as a result of the continuing shortage of spare parts due to the global supply chain disruption. Although less pronounced, the trend is similar in France and Germany, where the market has fallen by 10%. In these three countries, electrified cars have surged. In contrast, the European market for two-wheelers boomed in the first quarter. However, the market may be losing steam due to the rise in fuel prices.
New car sales continue to fall in Europe. The reason is the ongoing shortage of spare parts due to global supply chain disruptions. In May, registrations in the UK fell by almost 21%. With the exception of containment in 2020, this is the second weakest monthly performance seen in 30 years, according to the SMMT, the British industry association. As a result, the UK market remains 32.3% below its pre-crisis level. In contrast, sales of electric cars jumped by almost 18%.
Domestic production rebounds in Germany
The same sales profile was seen in Germany and France, although the plunge was less marked. Across the Rhine, the new car sales market fell by 10.2%, but domestic production rebounded by 25%. A total of 207,199 new cars were registered, according to the Federal Motor Vehicle Agency. As a reminder, the decline was 21.5% in April and 17.5% in March. Result: with 1 million units sold for the first five months of the year, the German market is down by 9% compared to the same period of 2021 and 33% compared to 2019. A glimmer of hope for this key sector of the German economy: domestic production has rebounded helped by two additional working days. But production in the first five months of the year remains 34% below the pre-crisis level in 2019. Only sales of electric cars rose, climbing 8.9% to account for 14.1% of new registrations, while sales of gasoline and diesel models fell more than the market.