LONDON -- The UK car industry showed signs of improvement in June, spurred by the reopening of showrooms from lockdown measures designed to curtail the spread of COVID-19.
Registrations last month fell 35 percent to 145,377, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said in data published on Monday.
This was improvement over previous months, when demand fell 44 percent in March, 97 percent in April and 89 percent in May.
Improved footfall will be welcome news to showrooms and major UK-based automakers such as Jaguar Land Rover and Nissan.
Other European car markets are also pulling ahead, buoyed by government incentives to encourage drivers to trade in older cars for new ones. In France, car sales rose for the first time this year in June.
Like France, both Germany and Spain unveiled aid packages for the industry, while the SMMT has called for state support, saying one in six jobs are at risk. The UK is expected to be among the hardest hit among western economies.
Consumers will be wary about buying big-ticket items like cars, given uncertainty over the economy and jobs, Ian Plummer, director at automotive classifieds company Auto Trader, said. They will also be seeking clarity as to whether the government will opt for a so-called scrapping scheme before making the leap, he said.
"Signs point to a trickier outlook for new-car sales," Plummer said. "There's a stronger outlook for the used-car market --- likely as people find alternative means to public transport."
Plummer also called for support to the car-industry, worth 18.6 billion pounds ($23 billion) to the British economy.
The European car industry was decimated by the coronavirus pandemic after governments ordered showrooms shut for about two months and consumers remained under lockdown.
Sales across Europe are forecast to drop by a record 25 percent this year -- the steepest percentage drop on record -- to the lowest total since 2013.
Not all British car factories have reopened, and many are operating at reduced capacity as automakers try to balance demand and supply, facing similar challenges to competitors abroad.
While car showrooms were allowed to reopen from June 1 in England, dealers in Wales and Scotland had to wait until June 22 and June 29 respectively.
Despite the small rebound, the SMMT remained cautious.
"This is not a recovery and barely a restart," Mike Hawes, SMMT's CEO, said.
"Many of June's registrations could be attributed to customers finally being able to collect their pre-pandemic orders, and appetite for significant spending remains questionable."
In the first half, UK sales fell 49 percent to 653,502.
Bloomberg and Reuters contributed to this report
