UK New Car Registrations DOWN by 14.3% in March – Tesla takes top TWO spots

New car registrations in the UK fell in March (2022) by 14.3 per cent, with the Tesla Model Y and Tesla Model 3 the best sellers.

There will come a point where demand for new cars is met by production volumes, but that still seems a way off as shortages – especially of ‘Chips’ – continues to constrain production.

So, yet again, it’s no surprise to see that new car registrations in the UK in March 2022 were down, by 14.3 per cent, making March 2022 the poorest month for new cars since the UK changed to a twice-yearly plate change in 1998.

There are a few bright highlights in the poor figures, although they’re probably not as bright as they may seem at first glance.

Registrations for private buyers jumped by 8.2 per cent, but that was against March 2021 when showrooms were closed to visitors so was to be expected. Fleet sales actually dropped by a thumping 34.4 per cent.

Another bright spot was the rise and rise of EVs, with BEVs seeing an increase of 78.7 per cent compared to March 2021. But again, there are reasons to see that figure as slightly skewed.

As we’ve seen before, car makers are prioritising the production and delivery of low emission and high margin cars in the face of constrained parts supplies, but the big difference is the number of Tesla registrations.

Tesla has a habit of ‘loading’ deliveries at the end of a quarter, so registrations of 6,464 for the Model Y and 6,457 for the Model 3 in March – six times the number of Teslas registered in January and February combined – do make the BEV numbers look a lot better than they otherwise would.

Away from BEVs, registrations for diesel cars fell by 55.2 per cent, petrol by 25.5 per cent and PHEV by 7.5 per cent, with diesel now responsible for just 5.6 per cent of new car registartions.

Mike Hawes, SMMT boss, said:

March is typically the biggest month of the year for the new car market, so this performance is deeply disappointing and lays bare the challenges ahead. While demand remains robust, this decline illustrates the severity of the global semiconductor shortage, as manufacturers strive to deliver the latest, lowest emission vehicles to eagerly awaiting customers.