What a year it’s been!
Lockdowns, Tiers, Face Masks, Boosters…. And it still goes on. BUT I am not here to dwell on that, today, I’m taking a look through the top motor stories of 2021 in this last blog of the year.
January – Lowest number of new car registrations in over 50 years
New figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show a 39.5% year-on-year drop in new car registrations last month, making it the sector’s “worst start to a year” since 1970.
A total of 90,249 new cars were registered in the UK last month, down from 149,279 in January last year – two months before the country went into its first lockdown when the pandemic took hold.
February – Electric car sales are up
Registrations were down by around 35 percent in February as the lockdown continued to force showrooms to close, but there was good news for the environment as figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed pure electric car sales were up 40% compared with the same month in 2020.
March – MOT month
This is always the busiest month of the year for MOTs, this year wasn’t any different!
April – April Fools!
A couple of days before April Fools Day, Volkswagen ‘accidentally’ released a story on its website which claimed that the German firm planned to change all of its American branding to ‘Voltswagen’, supposedly to signal the company-wide shift to electric power.
Volkswagen’s American press office was subsequently inundated with questions from US journalists and those journalists were told categorically that there was no April Fools tomfoolery at play. The firm’s PR people simply played along and told everyone it was true.
The leaked story was followed up by a full press release quoting senior VW executives on the thinking behind the Voltswagen rebrand. Volkswagen’s US website was edited with some references to Volkswagen changed to Voltswagen and its social media accounts were renamed. It seemed that they really were going to do it. Until suddenly they weren’t.
May – Used Car Sales rise
With the lift in restrictions, the Used Car Market sales begin to grow and grow, seeing a huge increase in the price of second-hand vehicles. With the reduction of new car production at the start of the year, low availability sent buyers looking for and subsequently buying more used cars.
June – Best selling car of the month
The Tesla Model 3 wasn’t just the country’s best-selling electric car, it was the best-selling car of all. The American company has certainly found the magic recipe to lure thousands of petrol and diesel car owners over to its popular electric saloon.
July – Joy for learner drivers
Learner drivers could finally begin lessons back in April, but the backlog due to the pandemic means many still haven’t been able to take their test. In July 2021, 450,000 people were waiting to take their driving test.
August – A warning from the DVLA
The DVLA issued an urgent warning to all drivers; websites called ‘shyster sites’ are being set up and are asking drivers to pay for services that are free of charge or much less on the DVLA website. For example, it costs £14 to renew a driving licence on the DVLA website, but up to £60 elsewhere.
Although these shyster sites are not illegal, if you ever need to know anything at all about your license, only ever do it through the DVLA website.
September – GB no more!
From the 28th of September 2021, all GB car stickers had to be replaced with UK ones when driving abroad. It means that people will now need a UK sticker to be legal on foreign roads. Any penalties for failing to comply will depend on the rules in specific countries.
The reason for this change?
It is intended to be more inclusive of Northern Ireland and will be seen as an attempt to win over unionists amid heightened tensions over post-Brexit border checks.
Northern Ireland is not a part of Great Britain which consists of England, Wales and Scotland.
October – The Bond car
Who swooned over that beautiful Aston Martin Daniel Craig had the pleasure of driving in the long-awaited release of James Bond’s No Time To Die in October 2021? Used and new Aston Martin DB5 cars currently retail between £300,000 up to £1,200,000 depending on the condition of the car. James Bond’s version with all it’s bells and whistles was valued at just under £4,000,000 – yikes!
November – COP26
This month saw the gathering of the biggest leaders on the planet to discuss climate change and its Net Zero proposals. The government’s new Net Zero Strategy, which sets out how the UK can reach net-zero emissions, includes a new mandate that will require car firms to sell an increasing percentage of zero-emission vehicles each year, and further investment in the UK charging network and automotive industry. The car industry welcomes the plans.
December – Congestion charge plans for 2022
It’s not just Londoners who are going to be stung each day they get behind the wheel of their vehicles. Drivers of older cars in some 15 cities will soon have to come to terms with the concept of emissions tax zones that could turn vehicle ownership from a convenience to a financial burden.
Here is a list of the other areas in the UK which already incur ULEZ charges and ones that will be enforced in 2022
Birmingham – Since June 2021
Bath – Since June 2021
Portsmouth – November 2021
Bradford – Jan 2022
Oxford – Feb 2022
Greater Manchester – Spring 2022
Edinburgh – Spring 2022
Glasgow – Spring 2022
Dundee – Spring 2022
Aberdeen – Spring 2022
Bristol – Summer 2022
Newcastle – July 2022
Liverpool – 2022/2023
Well, what a year it has been… what can we expect in 2022?! Who knows, but we’d very much like to take this opportunity to thank all of our customers for your support and business in 2021. We very much look forward to seeing you again in 2022!
Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.