Tesla takes lead in UK as electrics take one-third share

New car sales around the world are one of many industries severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and figures now in from the UK for April portray a bleaker picture than our report on Tuesday that Australia’s auto sales for April halved.

With car dealerships closed, a paralysing 97.3% reduction on car sales in the UK was reported on Tuesday (UK time) by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) for April, down from 161,064 units sold in April 2019 to just 4,321 in April 2020.

However, a key trend seen in Australia (albeit from a low base) is also reflected in the UK, is that electric vehicle sales are holding up, and the Tesla Model 3, which was introduced in early 2019 to the UK, unsurprisingly is taking the lead.

It is significant that Tesla’s sales modus operandi is online sales in contrast to the traditional car maker/dealership structure, along with touchless deliveries introduced by the EV maker to reduce the risk of spreading the novel Coronavirus causing the pandemic.

While sales in all drivetrains were down for April, battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales were down just 9.7% compared to more than 94% for other drivetrains.

This brought the market share for BEVs up to 31.8%, a significant piece of the pie given in March, when sales were reported by the SMMT to be down 44.4% compared to the same period in 2019, BEVs held just 4.6% of the market.

The tale that these figures are telling is that despite the crippling but necessary stay-at-home measures, people who can buy cars are proportionally buying more electric vehicles than ever before despite the current economic climate.

In light of one recent UK survey that showed people are considering buying an EV more than ever before, it may just be that the improvement in air quality due to stay-at-home measures has people thinking.

Year-to-date, battery electric sales are up 161.1%, and plug-in hybrids are up 31%. Non-pluggable hybrids also saw a drop but not to the extent of petrol and diesel drivetrains, while mild hybrids were by contrast remained popular.

What direction the UK auto industry will head after the pandemic will be important to the UK’s economic recovery, said SMMT chief Mike Hawes in a statement.

The UK already has several policies aimed at increasing the market share of electric vehicles, from its Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) in London to a generous financial incentives for those buying low and zero emissions vehicles.

“With the UK’s showrooms closed for the whole of April, the market’s worst performance in living memory is hardly surprising,” said Hawes.

“These figures, however, still make for exceptionally grim reading, not least for the hundreds of thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on the sector. A strong new car market supports a healthy economy and as Britain starts to plan for recovery, we need car retail to be in the vanguard.

“Safely restarting this most critical sector and revitalising what will, inevitably, be subdued demand will be key to unlocking manufacturing and accelerating the UK’s economic regeneration,” he said.

Will that include further measures to ensure the transition to electric vehicles follows in the footsteps of Norway? One can only hope so.

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