GLOBAL VEHICLE SALES ARE DOWN. New car news.

As you readers will already know, the outbreak of COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the automotive industry. 

Global vehicle sales totalled 5.55 million units in March which is 39% down from March 2019.

This represents the largest year-on-year  monthly fall since 1980 – when JATO Dynamics started collecting this kind of data.

Europe has been hit hard!  Passenger car registrations totalled 848,800 units – this is down by 52% compared to March 2019.  The quarterly volume this year is down to 3.04 million units. 

Its not all bad news though….EV’s posted a new record market share of 17.4%! Europe’s 2^nd best selling car for March 2020 was the Tesla Model 3!

This downward trend is not simply due to the restrictions of free movement. The industry is being impacted largely by the uncertainty for the future, and this issue started to arise even before the pandemic took hold. We have to remember that the industry was already operating in a challenging environment, especially towards the end of last year. The trade wars, lower economic growth and tougher emissions regulations came long before the COVID-19 crisis. And unlike previous recessions, we’re not just dealing with people’s fears or purchase delays. This time we have to consider that consumers are simply unable to leave their homes.

Said Felipe Munoz, JATO’s global analyst.

Data from Jato Dynamics.