Oxford, UK – World car registrations were down 1.2% in January 2022 compared with the same month in 2021 at 6.57 m units, according to LMC Automotive.
Subdued start to 2022 for world car market
The consultants said that the rate of sales implied that 84m vehicles will be sold in 2022, but that supply chain issues remain the key headwind, and coronavirus dealt a blow to some markets.
While the worst of these headwinds may be over, their concerns about inflation and a more subdued economic outlook are taking the shine off prospects.
In the US, sales were 10.1% lower in January at 990,000 units. In the same month in 2020, US dealers sold 1.10m units.
Sales in China of 2.5m units were up 4.4% on the same month last year, when Chinese dealers sold 2.4m units.
Western European sales were 870,000 units in the month, down by 2.8% on the January 2021 figure.
Sales in Brazil and Argentina fell to 158,000 units in the month. This compares with 209,000 units in the same month in 2021.