IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DATA ECOSYSTEMS

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown regulations since 27 March 2020 have had an extensive impact on economic activity. Measured in nominal terms (current prices), motor trade sales decreased by 49,1% year-on-year in May 2020. The largest negative annual growth rates were recorded for:

• new vehicle sales (-55,7%);
• used vehicle sales (-55,1%);
• workshop income (-51,5%); and
• fuel sales (-51,0%).

Seasonally adjusted motor trade sales increased by 163,4% in May 2020 compared with April 2020. This followed month-on-month changes of -75,2% in April 2020 and -19,0% in March 2020.

In the three months ended May 2020, seasonally adjusted motor trade sales decreased by 48,0% compared with the previous three months.

Motor trade sales decreased by 49,6% in the three months ended May 2020 compared with the three months ended May 2019. The main contributors to this decrease were:

·         new vehicle sales (-57,3% and contributing -14,2 percentage points);

·         fuel sales (-44,7% and contributing -13,4 percentage points);

·         used vehicle sales (-56,9% and contributing -10,2 percentage points); and

·         sales of accessories (-42,9% and contributing -7,3 percentage points).