Only 4321 cars were sold in April 2020 – a 97.3% drop on the same period last year and the UK’s worst year for new car registrations since 1946.
With the country in lockdown for the entire month due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and only certain key industries allowed to function, dealerships had no option but to close to protect staff and customers.
In spite of this companies were able to provide much needed support to key workers and frontline services, including opening repair shops to maintain vehicles used to transport goods and people, and keep essential services running.
A more detailed look at the figures show that the vast majority of April’s sales were to fleet buyers, with just a minority (871) sold to private individuals.