The UK car sales for 2022 have reached a new 30-year decline with the lowest figures recorded in three decades. Although there was some recovery in the latter part of the year, the continuing parts shortage is still having a major impact on the production lines.
The better news is, the demand for electric vehicles (EVs) is still growing strongly in demand and has accounted for almost a fifth of new car sales in the UK. The bad news is that the charging infrastructure is failing to keep up with the surge in demand for electric vehicles, as stated by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
Gloomy figures
For 2022 a total of 1.61 million cars were registered in the UK. Sales have never been this low since 1992. The car industry is also still feeling the impact of the Covid pandemic. Sales were even slightly lower than the year before, during the times of lockdowns and a host of other restrictions imposed on the UK population. This also equates to a massive 25% drop from 2019’s figures, regarded as the last “normal” year before the outbreak.
The major issue is the shortage of precious semiconductors, which are used in an array of electronic systems. As a result of this, even though the figures are high for electric vehicles, car manufacturers are still struggling to acquire the parts necessary to build new electric vehicles.
Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT)
Looking at the figures over the whole of 2022, it does show that there was an improvement in the second half of the year with registrations growing for five months in a row. This trend is forecast to continue in 2023, despite fears of a recession. The SMMT predicts sales of roughly 1.8 million vehicles in 2023.
However, it appears that the demand for electric vehicles has continued to grow and has accounted for a fifth of all new car sales for 2022.
The only negative is, the charging structure is not being built quickly enough to deal with the ever-growing demand for electric vehicles on the road, warned the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
The most popular cars of 2022
The following cars were the best-selling cars of 2022 in the UK, with the Nissan Qashqai being the overall winner with 42,704 cars sold.
Vauxhall Corsa 35,910
Tesla Model Y 35,551
Ford Puma 35,088
Mini Cooper 32,387
Kia Sportage 29,655
Hyundai Tucson 27,839
Volkswagen Golf 26,558
Ford Kuga 26,549
Ford Fiesta 25,070
Source: SMMT
Electric car sales for 2022
The sales of electric cars rose from 190,700 to 267,000, with market share climbing from 11.6% to 16.6%. In December, the figure rose to around 33%. This figure is based mainly on the shipments from overseas by Tesla. The biggest market share was from businesses buying fully electric vehicles for fleet purposes, making up around 66% of all registered electric vehicles.
The overall government target is to have 300,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2030 but in order to cope with this many electric cars, there need to be 100 new charging points installed every day until 2030, as stated by Mr. Hawes, the chief executive of the SMMT.
Electric cars’ exemption for vehicle excise duty with cease from April 2025, as part of the government’s plan to make the motoring tax system “fairer”.
Auto Trader’s editorial director, Erin Baker, said the rise in electric vehicle sales has been a “clear bright spot” in an already weak car sales market, however, she’s not confident that this trend will continue. The underlying problem seems to be affordability, as the cost of living and higher utility prices take their toll on the market.
“EVs (electric vehicles) need to be easier to afford to buy and charge, in order for the new industry to have stronger growth and maintain the government’s target.
Some rays of sunshine
The fact is, the used car market is where growth is steadily increasing, at the same time as shortages of vital components have greatly impacted the manufacturing of new cars worldwide. The main culprit for this is down to a huge shortage of microchips which are used to operate most of the systems onboard each vehicle, including EVs.
The alternative most car buyers are choosing now is nearly new or quality used cars from used car dealerships like WOO Carz which is based in Southampton, Hampshire. WOO Carz is a family-run used car dealer that provides a large range of quality used cars, as well as used electric and used hybrid cars. All cars come with a full warranty, are HPI Checked, and most importantly are delivered to your home or place of business completely free of charge anywhere in the UK. In most cases, the cars can be delivered within three days of purchase. WOO Carz also offers car finance terms for customers with good or adverse credit histories. Once your used car is delivered, customers will then have the chance to fully inspect and test drive until taking ownership. WOO Carz stocks hundreds of quality used cars and if you can’t find the right used car suitable for you, WOO Carz offers a free car-sourcing service, giving you access to 1000s of quality used cars nationwide.
Even if you have a car already, you can use it to part-exchange, so will help lower your payments, making life far easier than having to put it up for sale and wait weeks to have tyre kickers taking up your precious time. We offer very competitive part-exchange rates, and in most cases, WOO Carz will keep its quote promise over the phone and fulfill the transaction at the agreed price, but as long as the seller has been honest with the description given over the phone.
To find out more about WOO Carz’s current used car deals and offers, call now at 02380225666 Or you can click here to apply for car finance and get approval within 1 hour.
WOO Carz is authorised and regulated by the FCA to provide finance on all the used cars we stock and source. We work with a number of carefully selected credit providers who specialise in providing car finance to people with high or low credit scores.