Q1 2020 global car sales down 26%, but not entirely due to Covid-19

New car sales worldwide tumbled 39 percent in March 2020, according to data compiled by market research firm Jato Dynamics. It is the biggest month-on-month drop since 1980, when Jato Dynamics began compiling vehicle sales data.

Global new car sales for March 2020 totalled just 5.55 million units. The 39 percent monthly drop was bigger than the 25 percent drop registered in November 2008 during the start of the 2008/2009 global financial crisis.

Across the first three months of 2020, new car sales totalled 17.42 million units, a 26 percent drop from Q1 2019.

Most of the reduction in sales can be attributed to Covid-19 related restrictions in movements that are currently in place in many countries but it is important to note that the market has been sliding downwards even before the pandemic broke out.

“This downward trend is not simply due to the restrictions of free movement. The industry is being impacted largely by the uncertainty for the future, and this issue started to arise even before the pandemic took hold” said Felipe Munoz, JATO’s global analyst.

He continued “we have to remember that the industry was already operating in a challenging environment, especially towards the end of last year. The trade wars, lower economic growth and tougher emissions regulations came long before the COVID-19 crisis. And unlike previous recessions, we’re not just dealing with people’s fears or purchase delays. This time we have to consider that consumers are simply unable to leave their homes.”

Here some highlights of Q1 2020’s sales performance in several key markets/regions:

China: 3,672,000 units, down 42 percent

USA: 3,462,000 units down 13 percent

Canada: 331,600 units, down 20 percent

European Union: 3,361,000 units, down 26 percent

  Germany: 764,000 units down 20 percent

  France: 452,000 units down 32 percent

  Italy: 377,000 units, down 35 percent

  Spain: 254,000 units, down 31 percent

UK: 551,000 units, down 31 percent

Russia: 399,000 units, up 2 percent

Japan: 1,372,000 units, down 10 percent

Korea: 377,100 units, down 7 percent

India: 1,050,000 units, down 45 percent

Brazil: 533,000 units, down 8 percent

Mexico: 296,000 units, down 11 percent

Australia: 226,000 units, down 13 percent

Indonesia: 219,000, down 4 percent

Thailand: 201,000, down 24 percent

Malaysia: 108,000, down 23 percent