CEO Update

It has been a busy week for the decarbonisation agenda in the UK and across Europe with our government announcing on Wednesday the world’s first ‘greenprint’ to decarbonise all modes of transport by 2050, and the EU releasing its own…

The UK’s increasing reliance on vans since the start of the pandemic continues to have a positive impact on the new light commercial vehicle market. With online retail and construction activity on the rise, June saw 34,363 new vans join…

It has been a busy week at SMMT with the annual International Automotive Summit taking place on Tuesday, with more than 500 guests attending either physically or virtually. The event brought together industry leaders, government, political figures, media and other stakeholders…

This week saw the release of the latest automotive production data for May, and unsurprisingly the figures continue to look inflated when compared to last year’s near standstill of production lines. Despite the output of cars and engines significantly surpassing…

The news that the final easing of lockdown measures in England would be delayed by four weeks was, of course, very disappointing but the sector, like so many others directly affected, understands the need for a continuation of restrictions to…

The last two months have brought a cautious optimism that a recovery from the pandemic is forthcoming. Despite registration and manufacturing figures throughout April and May being lower than long-term averages, they were as good as could reasonably have been…

With dealerships back open for an entire month, a first for this year, and a better economic outlook, May’s registration figures, released today, are as good as could reasonably be expected. Over the course of the month 156,737 new cars…

This week saw SMMT release automotive production data for April, with the output of cars, commercial vehicles and engines all rising dramatically. The massive growth is unsurprising, however, as a year before, coronavirus brought the country to a standstill and…

According to the latest SMMT Motorparc data revealed this week, the average age of a car on UK roads has increased to 8.4 years old – the oldest since records began in 2000. This uplift has chiefly been the result…

The UK’s used car market experienced a turbulent first quarter, with sales decreasing -8.9% to just over 1.68 million units, according to the latest figures released by SMMT this week. Declines in January and February were responsible, and while transactions…