In June 2021, the growth rate of car sales has decreased and still lags far behind the sales volumes of the pre-Covid-19 period, informs the Latvian Auto Association.
In June of this year, only 1,657 new car units were sold, compared to 1,841 in June 2019. The effects of the pandemic on the car industry continue to have a significant impact on the industry as a whole. Production problems caused by semiconductor shortages are becoming more pronounced, leading to delays in deliveries for a number of car dealers and their inability to meet actual demand for new cars.
Compared to June 2020, the market for new cars has grown by 16%, but overall the market growth is 18% year-on-year. However, sales are still significantly lower than in 2019.
With the sale of 292 cars in June, it has strengthened its position as a market leader Toyota, whose market share in the first half is 17.3%. It follows VW with 197 cars sold and a market share of 13.3%. There even on the heels min Skoda, which accounted for 12.9% of the market in the first half of the year with 173 cars sold in June.
In general, light commercial vehicles are recovering faster from the passenger car segment. If the passenger car segment has increased by 15% compared to 2020, then for light commercial vehicles this increase is 24%. The used car market is recovering a little better. In June, it increased by 27% compared to June 2020 and shows the same increase in the first half of the year as a whole.
The new electric car market has returned to normal growth. In June, electric cars accounted for 1.6% of new cars, 36 units. The leader in June with 6 cars is Nissan Leaf. The record growth is shown by the used electric car market. In June, 53 such cars were imported, of which the leader is BMW i3 with 15 units followed by Tesla with 10 cars.
The heavy commercial transport segment shows a steady rapid growth, where the growth is for the ninth month in a row. It is 313% in June and 164% in the first half of 2020. However, there are growing concerns that such growth rates will be sustained as a number of manufacturers start to face supply problems, as do car manufacturers, which may contribute to delays in deliveries.
Thanks to the regional procurement of passenger transport, the new bus market is also experiencing a significant breakthrough. 99 unit deliveries provided the segment with 1550% growth in June and 429% growth in the first half.
“Overall, car dealers have been quite successful in overcoming the crisis caused by the pandemic, which is not the case for manufacturers who are still struggling with the aftermath of the pandemic and supply disruptions. The situation is somewhat related to the episode I have something to trade, then I may not trade. Then when I can trade, I have nothing to trade. When should I trade, “comments Andris Kulbergs, President of the Auto Association.
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