UK new car registrations rose 11.3 percent from a year earlier to 174,887 units in July 2020, as dealerships across the UK opened for their first full month of trading since February. This represents a significant improvement on the same month last year, when declining business and consumer confidence undermined the market. Private demand saw the most significant growth with a 20.4 percent increase in registrations, primarily a result of consumers finally being able to renew their cars after lockdown had forced them to delay. In addition, manufacturer incentives have helped attract customers to showrooms. Business car registrations showed modest growth, with fleet purchases increasing by 5.2 percent. Even so, more than 13,000 jobs have now been lost by UK Automotive across retail and manufacturing as a result of the pandemic, with more likely to follow given the scale of the challenges facing the sector, including shifts in technology, Brexit uncertainty and a depressed market.

Car Registrations in the United Kingdom averaged 153974.17 from 1962 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 562337 in March of 2017 and a record low of 4321 in April of 2020. This page provides the latest reported value for - United Kingdom Car Registrations - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news. United Kingdom Car Registrations - data, historical chart, forecasts and calendar of releases - was last updated on August of 2020. source: The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Limited (SMMT)

Car Registrations in the United Kingdom is expected to be 271000.00 by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Car Registrations in the United Kingdom to stand at 185000.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the United Kingdom Car Registrations is projected to trend around 136000.00 in 2021 and 169000.00 in 2022, according to our econometric models.

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United Kingdom Car Registrations

Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
174887.00 145377.00 562337.00 4321.00 1962 - 2020 Monthly
Volume, NSA


Calendar GMT Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2020-05-05 08:00 AM Apr -97.3% -44.4% -87%
2020-06-04 08:00 AM May -89% -97.3% -83%
2020-07-06 08:00 AM Jun -34.9% -89% -36%
2020-08-05 08:00 AM Jul 11.3% -34.9%
Go to our Calendar for more events. Or learn more about the Calendar API for direct access.


News Stream
UK New Car Registrations Surge 11% in July
UK new car registrations rose 11.3 percent from a year earlier to 174,887 units in July 2020, as dealerships across the UK opened for their first full month of trading since February. This represents a significant improvement on the same month last year, when declining business and consumer confidence undermined the market. Private demand saw the most significant growth with a 20.4 percent increase in registrations, primarily a result of consumers finally being able to renew their cars after lockdown had forced them to delay. In addition, manufacturer incentives have helped attract customers to showrooms. Business car registrations showed modest growth, with fleet purchases increasing by 5.2 percent. Even so, more than 13,000 jobs have now been lost by UK Automotive across retail and manufacturing as a result of the pandemic, with more likely to follow given the scale of the challenges facing the sector, including shifts in technology, Brexit uncertainty and a depressed market.
2020-08-05
UK Car Sales Fall at Slower Pace as Economy Reopens
UK new car registrations fell by 34.9 percent from a year earlier to 145,377 units in June 2020, easing from record slumps seen in April and May, as the market began a tentative restart after more than two months of lockdown. Dealerships in Wales and Scotland remained closed for much of the month, while showrooms in England were allowed to reopen on June 1st. Private demand proved more resilient than business, down 19.2 percent in June with orders made pre-lockdown resulting in 72,827 registrations and accounting for more than half of the market. Fleet sales fell by a very substantial 45.2 percent to 69,498 units as businesses paused purchasing amid expenditure reviews. Considering the first half of the year, new car sales tumbled 48.5 percent to 653,502 units, with some 240,000 private sales lost since consumers were told to ‘stay at home’ and retailers forced to close, resulting in an estimated £1.1 billion loss to the Treasury in VAT receipts alone.
2020-07-06
UK New Car Sales Tumble 89% in May
UK new car registrations slumped by 89 percent from a year earlier to 20,247 units in May 2020 following April's record fall, as ‘click and collect’ services, allowed from mid-month, saw some movement in the market despite the coronavirus crisis. However, with 163,477 fewer registrations than in the same month last year, the performance still marked the lowest May since 1952. Considering full-year figures, new car sales were down 51.4 percent in the first five months of 2020. The news comes in the week that car showrooms in England were given the green light to re-open following more than two months of lost trading. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, however, car showrooms remain closed until next week.
2020-06-04
UK New Car Sales Lowest Since 1946
UK new car registrations tumbled by a record 97.3 percent from a year earlier to 4,321 units in April 2020, the lowest level since February 1946 just a few months after the end of World War Two, as the coronavirus pandemic forced the nation into lockdown for the entire month. Fleet orders represented by far the bulk of the market, taking 71.5 percent market share, equivalent to 3,090 units, while private buyers registered just 871 cars. The distortion was reflected across all segments and fuel types, with the numbers of new petrol and diesel cars joining UK roads down 98.5 percent and 97.6 percent respectively, as plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) declined 95.1 percent and hybrids (HEVs) 99.3 percent. The SMMT further downgraded its full-year forecast to 1.68 million registrations compared with last year's total of 2.31 million cars, which would be the worst performance since 1992 and below the levels seen during the financial crisis.
2020-05-05

United Kingdom Car Registrations
In the United Kingdom, Car Registrations refers to total registration of new passenger cars.