New UK car registrations UP by a WHOPPING 3,176% in April

New car registrations in the UK in April 2021 rose by 3,176.6 per cent, a year on from the first month of Covid lockdowns which decimated sales.

When the first Covid lockdown started in March last year, new car registrations fell, unsurprisingly, as car dealers shut up shop so we could all stay at home and cower.

But it was April last year which saw the nadir of new car registrations, with just over 4,000 cars registered as numbers dropped by a massive 97 per cent compared to 2019.

So it’s no surprise that this April’s car registration figures, despite car dealers not properly opening until 12 April, show the biggest rise in history, an increase of some 3,167 per cent, an increase in numbers from last yer’s 4,321 to a much more satisfactory 141,583.

Despite the big jump, registrations are still some 12.9 per cent lower than the 10-year average for April, but it’s a big step in the right direction.

The most significant jump was in retail sales – private buyers coming out of their imposed Purdah – and there was, predictably, a big jump in sales of anything with ‘Hybrid’ attached or a plug.

Top sellers for April were the Vauxhall Corsa, Mercedes A-Class and Ford Fiesta, with Ford taking four of the top 10 spots with the Fiesta, Puma, Focus and Kuga (in that order).

Mike Hawes, SMMT CEO, said:

After one of the darkest years in automotive history, there is light at the end of the tunnel. A full recovery for the sector is still some way off, but with showrooms open and consumers able to test drive the latest, cleanest models, the industry can begin to rebuild.