European Car Sales Plummet as Continent Revisits Lockdown Protocols
If you hadn’t already heard, Europe began taking actions to prepare itself for another pandemic-related lockdown. Last month, leadership in Germany and France noted that existing restrictions were “not enough anymore” and began issuing specific citizens “certificates” allowing them to move freely within the country. As you might have imagined, this didn’t exactly bolster automotive sales.
While most of the new restrictions were implemented at the tail end of October, they’ve foreshadowed additional measures introduced as more countries climbed aboard ( like the UK’s second banning of sex with people from outside of the household) and began signaling that automotive sales were about to be routed. Gains made in September look to be completely undone, with Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority stating new-car registrations fell by 3.6 percent in October (vs 2019) on Wednesday. But that’s only the beginning of the bad news.
While the European Automobile Manufacturers Association won’t have the official numbers posted for almost two weeks, the prognosis is generally poor. State-funded loans and subsidies designed to spur EV adoption are assumed to soften the blow slightly but will be incapable of making a meaningful difference. The outlet has already signaled that it expects the end-of-year forecast to worsen as lockdowns continue.
From Bloomberg:
In the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a four-week partial lockdown, with non-essential shops including car dealerships to close from Thursday. France issued similar restrictions last week.
While dealerships remain open in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has imposed a partial shutdown and is urging citizens to stay at home whenever possible. Austria, Greece and Portugal also have expanded limits for November, while Italy is restricting opening hours of businesses.
The curveball comes as most automakers had actually planned to increase production through the rest of 2020. Unless they’re similarly mandated to go home and wait for the government to change its mind, they’ll be churning out vehicles many people won’t be able to purchase. This could again totally disrupt automotive supply and demand, especially if restrictive measures last through the whole of winter.
[Image: GLF Media/Shutterstock]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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Yesterday I was bored so my staff and I performed a complete disassembly of a Formula One car and a NASCAR Cup Series car (both last year's models; my resources are not unlimited). Based on that analysis, we have concluded that Europe has nothing to offer the USA in terms of technology or best practices in any area of life.
At least Snopes is getting more work, weeding out the manipulative lies and disinformation from what is actually true. The problem is that so many people believe stupid crap, as long as it's aimed at who they perceive to be their "enemies". As an extension to that: Just think how stupid the average American is. Remember, half of them are even stupider than that! (Credit to George Carlin)