Sales of new cars in the U.K fell by almost 30% in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and shuttering of showrooms, reports CNBC. New car registrations amounted to 1,631,064 last year, down by 680,076 from 2019, the lowest since 1992.
- Demand for battery electric vehicles rose by 185.9% in 2020, with 108,205 new registrations in what has been described as their “best-ever year.”
- Sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles hit 66,877, an increase of 91.2%.
- Battery and plug-in hybrid electric cars accounted for more than one in 10 registrations, up from about one in 30 in 2019.
- Gas-powered cars’ sales dropped by 39% but enjoyed a market share of 55.4%, while diesel cars had a market share of 16%
- Ford Fiesta was the best-selling car in 2020, but Tesla Model 3, an EV, was the most popular in December.
- The increasing demand for EV underlies continuing efforts by countries such as the U.K to curb air pollution with plans to stop the sale of diesel and gasoline-powered cars and vans by 2030.
Major auto stocks are currently gaining. GM: NYSE is up 1.61%, F: NYSE is up 0.64%, TSLA: NASDAQ is up 2.23%,
