Ford is no longer the biggest car brand in Britain, with the ongoing semiconductor shortage leading to a shake-up in the 2021 new car market.
Volkswagen has taken the crown as Britain’s best-selling car brand.
Full-year registrations were up barely one percent last year, despite 2020 being hit hard by Covid.
While 2020 was the worst year since 1992, 2021 was actually the second-worst year, down almost 29 percent on pre-pandemic 2019.
Challenges subdued sales to around 1.65 million cars, according to preliminary figures. The usual run-rate for the UK new car market is around 2.3 million cars.
The market has also been significantly disrupted by production shortages caused by the semiconductor shortage, with many big brands concentrating their efforts on higher-margin vehicles.
Ford is the most striking illustration of this. Previously, it has been Britain’s favourite car brand, with the Fiesta leading the way as the top-selling model.
In 2021, however, Volkswagen usurped Ford as the top carmaker, while the Vauxhall Corsa became Britain’s best-selling car. The Fiesta was left trailing outside the top 10.
Britain goes electric
Electric cars took a record market share, accounting for 11.6 percent of registrations. Indeed, in December 2021, more than one in four new cars sold was a pure electric vehicle – a total of 190,000 cars.
Overall in 2021, the best-ever year for electric car sales saw them take one in six registrations.
This makes the UK Europe’s second-largest new car market for pure electric vehicles.
However, SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes warned such fast progress risks overwhelming the UK’s EV charging infrastructure, which is lagging behind new car sales.
While the number one barrier is the price of electric cars, he explained, consumers are also very concerned about EV charging infrastructure.
“Provision of on-street chargers is a particular worry,” said Hawes. SMMT figures suggest there are 16 cars fighting for every single on-street charger.
“Given the scale of growth in electric car sales, the gap is going to get worse, so the use experience will get worse too.”
Hawes wants electric car incentives to be extended, not continually cut back, and is also calling for mandated chargepoint targets to accelerate the uptake of EVs.
The SMMT is expected to release final 2021 new car registration figures at 9am on 6 January.
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