Car sales in Western Europe dipped about 25.7pc to 759,331 units from the prior year according to London headquartered LMC Automotive. LMC stated that the annualised selling rate has slipped 9.9mn units in January 2021, the lowest level since May 2020.
Consumer demand was hurt owing to the struggling consumer demand. Furthermore, many of the Western European countries’ governments have withdrawn the incentives or change in taxes which were initiated to boost sales. This resulted in a poor start of the year, LMC noted.
Germany’s car sales in January slipped 31pc to 169,754 units while Spain’s car sales have halved to just 41,966 units compared to 2020. UK’s car sales is down 39pc to 90,249 units in January from a year back. France witnessed a narrower sales dip of 5.8pc to 126,381 units.
LMC has lowered their 2021 outlook compared to their previous forecast on the back of extended lockdowns which would weigh on the near-term sales. Also, there is a dearth of semiconductors which is restricting production and limiting supply. These hindrances could be offset with the rollout of vaccines.