The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have published UK new car registrations for December which means we have a complete years’ worth of data for 2022. It’s not a pretty picture, with overall new cars registered at a 30 year low at 1.61m units (down from 1.65m in 2021).
It’s not all bad news though, as there’s been clear signs of recovery in the last six months AND the percentage of EV registered for December is a new record at 33%.
Back in July, we estimated how many cars would ultimately be registered in 2022 at 1.5m, which is 100k lower than we then saw. Those extra units have been added at the tail end of the year and, if we continue to see the situation improving, 2023 may be a much better year.
So here’s the BIG QUESTION: what does this all mean for the total number of cars on British roads (which was 31.7m at the end of 2021), and their average age (just under 9 years). With 2.1m odd new cars NOT being added in the last three years, does this mean 2.1m older cars weren’t scrapped, and are still knocking around? And what’s the implication of that on emissions, local and green-house?