This week the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) published its figures for vehicle sales in 2022 and the picture is a mixed one.

We have previously commented on post-pandemic global supply chain issues (not only in the automotive industry) brought about by erratic semi-conductor chip production, and the message from the SMMT is that such problems still remain, meaning that the volume of new cars being delivered to customers remains suppressed.

However the outlook is not all doom and gloom.

Whilst total car sales for 2022 (1.61m) were marginally below those for 2021 (1.64m) - no doubt impacted by the geo-political fallout from the war in Ukraine and consequent cost of living crisis adding to reduced consumer confidence brought about by the chip shortage – December’s figures did mark the fifth consecutive month of growth (helped by Tesla having a bumper shipment of vehicles to the UK just in time for Christmas). The figures show an 18.3% increase from 108,596 new registrations in December 2021 to 128,462 in the same month in 2022. However this rallying performance in the second half of the year was not enough to offset the declines recorded during the first, meaning the total figures for the year were down on 2021.

Perhaps the most eye-catching news from the SMMT’s figures is that in 2022 the sale of electric vehicles (including battery electric vehicles, hybrids, and plug-in hybrids) overtook diesel as the UK’s favourite powertrain (petrol still taking the top spot), which to many marks a significant milestone to meet the government’s plan to achieve zero-emission sales by 2030 (see our article here). The figures for December 2022 alone show that 32.9% of all new cars purchased were battery electric vehicles (compare this to 25.5% in 2021), with the total market share in 2022 being 16.6% (compared to 11.6% in 2021).

The SMMT (boldly) predicts that we will see the post-pandemic “bounce-back” in 2023 suggesting that the UK will buy 1.85m new cars this year. However such confidence is tempered with caution as SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes acknowledges that to reach these figures “a lot of tailwinds” will be needed, not least support from government to make the uptake of electric vehicles even more attractive to consumers – “for a nation aiming for electric mobility leadership, that must be matched with policies and investment that remove consumer uncertainty over switching, not least over where drivers can charge their vehicles”.