New car registrations fell 27.4 percent in November 2020, but car dealers were still able to hand over almost 114,000 new cars to customers despite lockdown closures in England.
Newly-established ‘click and collect’ handovers helped retailers continue delivering new cars, even though customers couldn’t physically go into showrooms.
A total of 113,781 new cars were registered during November 2020, down 42,840 on 2019, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The November 2020 registration total represents a low not seen since the 2008 recession.
“Compared with the spring lockdown, manufactures, dealers and consumers were all better prepared to adjust to constrained trading conditions,” said SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes.
“But with £1.3 billion worth of new car revenue lost in November alone, the importance of showroom trading to the UK economy is evident and we must ensure they remain open in any future Covid restrictions.
“More positively, with a vaccine now approved, the business and consumer confidence on which this sector depends can only improve, giving the industry more optimism for the turn of the year.”
Corsa tops the table
The Vauxhall Corsa emerged just ahead of the Volkswagen Golf as Britain’s best-selling car in November 2020. The Ford Fiesta, currently the top car during 2020 overall, fell right down to eighth place.
The considerable success of the acclaimed new Corsa, the AUTOBEST Best Buy Car of Europe 2020, means it is less than 2,400 sales behind the Fiesta for 2020 overall.
However, Ford will be more pleased with the performance of the new Puma SUV, which edged ahead of the Fiesta to take seventh place in the November 2020 chart.
Despite being on sale for less than a year, the Puma is currently ninth in the overall 2020 best-sellers chart.
Unsurprisingly, the decline of diesel continued unabated. Regular diesel sales recorded a mere 14 percent market share during November, and even the addition of mild hybrid versions only took it up to 18.1 percent.
Pure electric cars continued to perform extremely well, with a 9.1 percent market share placing them ahead of both regular hybrids and plug-in hybrids.
The government will see this as encouraging, given the announcement that sales of new petrol and diesel cars will begin to be phased out from 2030.
Top 10 best-selling cars: November 2020
1: Vauxhall Corsa
2: Volkswagen Golf
3: Mercedes-Benz A-Class
4: Nissan Qashqai
5: Ford Focus
6: Mini
7: Ford Puma
8: Ford Focus
9: Volvo XC40
10: Audi A3
ALSO READ
UK car sales halve due to lockdown
Brexit and International Driving Permits: what you need to know