Oxford, UK – World car registrations in 2021 were up by 4.6% at 81.3m units. This compares to 77.7m in the previous year.
World car market grew by almost 5% in 2021
In both 2020 and 2021, the industry was hit by coronavirus shutdowns, but in 2021, the recovery in production was also hit by shortages of raw materials and the microchips that control many aspects of passenger cars and light vehicles. LMC Automotive predicts that these drags will hold the automotive industry back during 2022.
Despite these headwinds, sales in the US were 2.8% higher in the year at 14.90m units. This compares with the 14.50m units sold by US dealers in 2020.
The Chinese market managed to grow by 4.3%, with sales reaching 25.5m units in the year. This is higher than the amount sold in 2021 by 1m units, or 4.3%.
Growth was stronger in both of those regions than it was in Western Europe, according to LMC Automotive. There, 2021 sales of 12.4m units, almost unchanged from the 2020 figure.
Looking at December 2021, world car registrations were down 11.7% compared with the same month in 2020 at 7.39m units. US sales were 26.4% lower, at 1.20m units. In the same month in 2020, US dealers sold 1.62m units.
In China, according to LMC Automotive, the sales of 2.8m units were similar to those achieved in the 2020 month. Western European sales were also almost unchanged, at 1.0m units in the month.
