Registrations of New Cars in the UK on a 2-Decade Low After Declining by 34% in Sept.

Source: Financial Times

UK dealers posted 215,312 registrations of new vehicles in September, a decline of 34% from the prior year and the lowest level since 1999. GBPUSD is up +0.15%, FTSE 100 is up +0.55%

• The fall in new vehicle registrations in the UK reflects ongoing semiconductor shortages. 
• The low new vehicle sales happen despite September being a plate-change month which typically witnesses high new car registrations.
• UK head of automotive at KPMG Richard Peberdy says the chip issues and Covid-19 related constraints were compounded by consumer price pressures in the economy.
• Melrose Industries is reporting that customers are canceling automobile orders by up to 25 times the rate witnessed at the beginning of the year.
• Despite the fall in new car registrations, more than 32,000 new electric battery cars were reportedly registered in September due to the uptake of plug-in automobiles.
• The sales of new vehicles are now almost 45% below the pre-pandemic’s 10-year average.