The UK auto market is on the right track to face its hardest yr since 1982 because the nation reels from a cost-of-living squeeze and surging inflation, along with the affect of persisting chip shortages throughout the globe, the Society of Motor Producers and Merchants (SMMT) stated.

The warning got here because the group launched month-to-month information exhibiting that UK new-car gross sales rose 26 p.c to 134,344 in October.

Regardless of the soar, gross sales of full-electric automobiles did not match the market improve, rising 23 p.c to a 14.8 p.c market share, the primary time the share has dropped since Could 2021, the SMMT stated.

“A powerful October is vastly welcome, albeit as compared with a weak 2021, however it’s nonetheless not sufficient to offset the harm accomplished by the pandemic and subsequent provide shortages,” SMMT CEO Mike Hawes stated within the assertion.

The SMMT has revised its market outlook for the yr to 1.56 million. In 1982, registrations have been 1.55 million.

By October, total UK registrations fell 5.6 p.c to 1.34 million.