What Does UK’s Latest Car Sales Data Tell Us About The Industry?

United Kingdom’s automotive industry is still gasping for the breath, as per the latest report by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), there was a steep fall in the sales of new cars in the month of January 2020. This was primarily led by the demand decline of private and fleet vehicles, as well as extremely weak consumer confidence, following huge economic uncertainty related to Brexit. Another reason for this was the talks around the preponing of the total ban of fossil- fuel-based vehicles by the UK Administration, which has now been confirmed to the year 2035.

As per the SMMT data, there was a 13.9 per cent year on year decline in the private vehicle registrations in the month of January to 61,717 vehicles, while the number of Fleet vehicle registrations declined by 2.2 per cent year on year for the month of January to 84,618, as against 86,503 in the month of January 2019. The increase was only seen by the Business vehicle segment, wherein, the number of registrations went up by 4.2 per cent year on year to 2944 vehicles for the month of January 2020, as opposed to 2824 vehicles that were registered in the month of January 2019. In terms of the market share, Fleet vehicles were still at the top, and extended their lead by approximately 3 per cent, reportedly sitting at 56.7 per cent share of the market for the month of January 2020, in terms of car registrations.

Considering the fuel segment-wise registrations and sales data, for the month of January 2020, the diesel car registrations went massively down by 36 per cent year on year and were reported to be at 29,605 as compared to 46,264 in January 2019. The market share of Diesel vehicle registrations also reduced drastically from 28.7 per cent to 19.8 per cent. This was, however, evenly spread across all the Electric vehicles segments, who all saw a decent rise in the number of registrations. The petrol car registrations were also down by approximately 9.5 per cent year on year and were reported at 91,836 for the Month of January 2020. Even the Petrol segment car registrations’ market share was down from 63.0 per cent in January 2019 to 61.50 per cent in January 2020.

This gives us an idea that the citizens of the United Kingdom are now shifting their demand from conventional fossil-fuel based vehicles to different types of Electric Vehicles. This can also be indicated by the fact that for the month of January, the registrations for Plug in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) were up by 111.1 per cent year on year, the registrations for Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) was up by a massive 203.90 per cent year on, while the Mild Hybrid electric vehicle Diesel (MHEV-D) registrations were up by 721.30 per cent year on year and the Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicle Petrol (MHEV-P) registrations were up by 215.50 per cent year on year.

Here is a historical stock price performance of four key automotive and automotive parts stocks listed on the FTSE, that could have an impact from this shift in demand and with the regulatory changes in the industry.

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc (LON:AML) Stock Price Performance

On 5^th February 2020, at around 08:30 A.M (GMT), by the time of writing this report, the stock of Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc was trading at a price of GBX 463.00 per share on the London Stock Exchange market, a jump in the value of around 1.05 per cent or GBX 4.80 per share, as opposed to the price of the stock on the previous trading day, which has been reported to be at GBX 458.20 per share. At the time of writing, the market capitalisation of Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc was GBP 1.044 billion with regards to the current market price of the stock.

In the last one year, since February 05, 2019, when the price of the Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc stock was at GBX 1211 per share, the stock has lost 61.77 per cent. The stock has also gained 1.80 per cent in value in the last six months from the price of GBX 454.80 per share at the close of the market on August 05, 2019. The Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc stock had lost approximately 11.10 per cent in value in the last one month since the close of the market on January 06, 2020, when the price of the stock was reported to be at GBX 520.80 per share.

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AA Plc (LON: AA.) Stock Price Performance

On 5^th February 2020, at around 08:35 A.M (GMT), by the time of writing this report, the stock of AA Plc was trading at a price of GBX 45.00 per share on the London Stock Exchange market, a fall in the value of around 4.05 per cent or GBX 1.90 per share, as opposed to the price of the stock on the previous trading day, which has been reported to be at GBX 46.90 per share. At the time of writing, the market capitalisation of AA Plc was GBP 289.25 million with regards to the current market price of the stock.

In the last one year, since February 05, 2019, when the price of the AA Plc stock was GBX 82.67 per share, the stock has lost 45.57 per cent. The stock has also lost 11.33 per cent in value in the last six months from the price of GBX 50.75 per share at the close of the market on August 05, 2019. The AA Plc stock had lost approximately 18.18 per cent in value in the last one month since the close of the market on January 06, 2020, when the price of the stock was reported to be at GBX 55.50 per share.

The beta of the stock has been reported at a value of 2.28, representing the fact that the movement of the share price of the company, is more volatile, as opposed to the movement in the comparative benchmark index.Â

Autins Group Plc (LON:AUTG) Stock Price Performance

On 5^th February 2020, at around 08:40 A.M (GMT), by the time of writing this report, the stock of Autins Group Plc was trading at a price of GBX 20.50 per share on the London Stock Exchange market, no change in the value of the share, from the previous trading day. At the time of writing, the market capitalisation of Autins Group Plc was GBP 8.12 million with regards to the current market price of the stock.

In the last one year, since February 05, 2019, when the price of the Autins Group Plc stock was GBX 18.00 per share, the stock has gained 13.89 per cent. The stock has also lost 12.77 per cent in value in the last six months from the price of GBX 23.50 per share at the close of the market on August 05, 2019. The Autins Group Plc stock had lost approximately 0.49 per cent in value in the last one month since the close of the market on January 06, 2020, when the price of the stock was reported to be at GBX 20.60 per share.

The beta of the stock has been reported at a value of 0.29, representing the fact that the movement of the share price of the company, is less volatile, as opposed to the movement in the comparative benchmark index.

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Surface Transforms Plc (LON:SCE) Stock Price Performance

On 5^th February 2020, at around 08:45 A.M (GMT), by the time of writing this report, the stock of Surface Transforms Plc was trading at a price of GBX 27.00 per share on the London Stock Exchange market, no change in the price of the share, from the previous trading day. At the time of writing, the market capitalisation of Surface Transforms Plc was GBP 36.75 million with regards to the current market price of the stock.

In the last one year, since February 05, 2019, when the price of the Surface Transforms Plc stock was GBX 16.75 per share, the stock has gained 61.90 per cent. The stock has also gained 35.00 per cent in value in the last six months from the price of GBX 20.00 per share at the close of the market on August 05, 2019. The Surface Transforms Plc stock had gained approximately 14.89 per cent in value in the last one month since the close of the market on January 06, 2020, when the price of the stock was reported to be at GBX 23.50 per share.

The beta of the stock has been reported at a value of 1.15, representing the fact that the movement of the share price of the company, is more volatile, as opposed to the movement in the comparative benchmark index.

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