SMM: according to reports, the British government said it will not introduce sales stimulus measures to promote new car sales affected by the epidemic. But the auto industry hopes that the government will provide financial support to them when long-term sales are affected.
Earlier, France and Germany have introduced sales stimulus measures, so the British car industry thinks the government will introduce similar measures. But a spokesman for the UK's business, energy and industrial strategy department said the country had no plans to change existing preferential policies or scrap used cars.
The (SMMT), an association of British automakers and traders, has again asked the government to help the car industry, which has shed thousands of jobs in the past few months. SMMT CEO Mike Hawes said in a statement that the new crown virus outbreak has had a serious impact on the automotive industry. He said SMMT "has been in communication with the government."
Daksh Gupta, chief executive of dealer group Marshall Motor, said the UK government might be watching medium-term sales after dealers reopened in June. "June sales were encouraging and we saw a large backlog of demand," he said. The most important question now is whether this demand can be sustained after unpaid leave ends in the fourth quarter of this year. "
The UK government had previously extended its unpaid leave programme, which aims to preserve jobs by paying employees a percentage of their wages, until the end of October. New car sales in the UK fell 89 per cent to 20247 in May, compared with a 97 per cent drop in April. New car sales in the UK fell 51 per cent to 508125 in the first five months of this year, according to SMMT.
Earlier this month, a survey released by SMMT showed that 1/6 of jobs in the UK auto industry are at risk of being laid off after the unpaid leave scheme ends. The association called on the government to provide help to the auto industry in November to promote the development of the industry. "at present, 1/3 of the workers in the auto industry are still on leave, and we hope that these employees will return to work instead of being laid off," Hawes said. "
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