Five months of consecutive growth at the end of 2022 could not prevent UK new car sales falling to their lowest ebb in 30 years, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
The decline – blamed primarily on supply chain shortages, especially of semiconductors – left total sales at 1.61 million units, 2.0% lower than 2021’s Covidaffected levels and around 700,000 lower than the figure for 2019, the most recent ‘normal’ year.