Oxford, UK – World car registrations in May 2020 were down 33.3% compared with the same month in 2019, at 5.09 m units, according to LMC Automotive.
In the US, sales were lower by 28.8% in May at 1.1 m units. In the same month in 2019, US dealers sold 1.6m units.
Meanwhile, in China, LMC says sales hit 2.1 m units, up 10.0% on the previous month. In the same month in 2019, 1.9m units were sold there.
In Western Europe, sales were 600,000 units in the month, 58% down on the May 2019 figure.
Sales in Brazil and Argentina fell to 76,000 units in the month. This compares with 269,000 units in the same month in 2019.
LMC Automotive said that although this is a serious drop, this is an improvement on the April result. ‘[It suggests] that the post-pandemic recovery, lengthy as it might be, is underway. Nevertheless, this is indicative of the serious impact of coronavirus across the globe,' it added.
The consultants predict that by the end of the year, the global car market will be 28.8% smaller than it was in 2019. The total number of cars sold is likely to be about 64.3m, compared with 90.3m in 2019.