The Ford Puma was the best-selling UK car August 2021
New car registrations in August 2021 down by 220 per cent as Covid hangover and Chip shortages impact. But PHEV sales jump.
You’d think, after the decimation of car sales in Covid-hit 2020, that every month this year would see strong jumps in numbers. But not so.
July sales were down on 2020, impacted by Covid disruptions to staffing and a global shortage of ‘Chips’, and August figures are similarly impacted.
Traditionally, August is a quiet month for new car registrations as buyers wait for the plate change in September, but last month registrations were at their lowest since 2013, and down by 22 per cent on 2020 for a total of 68,033 new registrations.
Although numbers were down overall, BEV and Hybrid sales rose by 32.2 per cent and 45.7 per cent respectively, although the biggest jump was in PHEV numbers, up by 72.1 per cent and on a par with diesel numbers.
That’s a trend that’s been going on since the BEV grant was cut in March, and with some 130 different plug-in models now available, looks set to continue.
Fleet registrations and private registration both fell, but Fleet by twice as much as private, but despite the fall in numbers 2021 is still running at 20.3 per cent greater numbers than 2020.
Mike Hawes, SMMT boss, said:
While August is normally one of the quietest months for UK new car registrations these figures are still disappointing, albeit not wholly surprising. The global shortage of semiconductors has affected UK, and indeed global, car production volumes so new car registrations will inevitably be undermined.
Top registrations for the month went to the Ford Puma, followed by the VW Polo and Toyota Yaris.
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