SMMT News

Used market drops -2.1% in 2018, with 167,980 fewer cars changing hands compared with 2017. Alternatively fuelled cars up 26.9% year-on-year as buyers opt for latest technology. Superminis remain the most popular buy, with more than 2.7m finding new homes…

New HGV registrations decline -4.3% in 2018, with 43,103 vehicles joining UK roads. Demand grows for tippers, skip loaders and flat lorries, bucking overall trend. Markets for both rigid and artic trucks decline, down -6.7% and -1.1% respectively. The UK…

Demand for new buses and coaches declines -5.6% in 2018, with 7,236 vehicles joining UK roads. Minibus registrations grow 5.0% but can’t offset substantial declines for single and double-deckers. 1,594 units registered in Q4, down -5.6% on same period in…

New light commercial vehicle (LCV) market posts 8.6% increase in first month of the year. Double-digit increases in demand for small vans and pickups, up 31.7% and 13.4% respectively. New models and deals help January bounce-back following weak December. SEE…

UK new car market dips -1.6% in January as 161,013 models leave forecourts. Private buyers boost the market in first month of 2019, but fail to offset declines in business and fleet registrations. Demand for electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid…

SMMT released figures for December pre-registrations in the UK new car market. The data shows the number of cars disposed of by vehicle manufacturers in December 2018 that were defined as pre-registrations. Download the December 2018 release

UK engine manufacturing stable in 2018, down just -0.3% to 2.7 million units. Production for overseas plants reaches seven-year high with exports taking almost two-thirds of output. UK demand falls in line with British car manufacturing as regulatory and model changes…

British commercial vehicle manufacturing increases 8.5% in 2018, following two years of decline. Demand grows at home and overseas, rising 17.9% and 2.9% respectively. Nearly six in 10 UK built CVs exported to global markets last year. British commercial vehicle…

UK car production falls -9.1% to 1.52 million units in 2018, a six year low for the sector.1
Output for the UK and overseas markets down -16.3% and -7.3% respectively, with 8 in 10 cars exported.
Brexit fears see fresh investment halved in 2018, as new calculations show two thirds of UK’s global car trade at risk from ‘no deal’.