Rising sales of electric vehicles in Scotland failed to stop the overall new car market north of the border continuing to decline last month.
Overall sales in Scotland during November fell by 4.21% against the same month last year with 522 fewer new cars being registered. The largest percentage drop was in the Borders at 22.73% down followed by Dumfries & Galloway at 18.73%, but both Lothian (up 2.43%) and Central (+1.74%) regions bucked the trend.
Registrations for pure electric in November 2019 came in at 2.74% against the same period in 2018 to make up 0.6% of the market.
Sandy Burgess, chief executive of the Scottish Motor Trade Association , described the overall fall in sales as “disappointing but understandable given the political turmoil of late”.
“It’s ‘business as usual’ but not as we would want it to be,” he said. “The market is in dire need of political resolution and some level of financial stability to allow a return to a stable market, the deals are out there, the dealers are prepared, stocked and trained, there is a growing desire for transition to clean, economical and technically outstanding vehicles.”
The Mercedes A-Class was the biggest selling model during the month followed by Ford’s Kuga and Fiesta and the VW Golf. For the year to date, the Ford Fiesta is the biggest selling model in Scotland. Yesterday, overall UK figures were published showing new car sales slipped by 1.3% with 2,018 fewer vehicles were registered in November than during the same month last year.
