UK Motor Industry Calls Government To Re-open Showrooms As Figures Show £61 Million Daily Cost Of Closure
By News

New figures published by the SMMT reveal a £61 million daily cost to the Treasury of keeping dealerships closed. Today, the UK automotive industry is calling on government to allow the country’s 4,900 new car showrooms to reopen as a matter urgency.

Annual tax-take from VAT, VED and other taxes on new car sales to private buyers alone, amount to some £5.4 billion. Due to lockdown restrictions forcing showrooms to shut, this will cut this figure by 23% by the end of the month. Meaning every additional day of closure costing £20 million.

There are around 590,000 furloughed workers in the retail sector under the Job Retention Scheme, which is costing an estimated £41 million a day. This bill could be reduced if retailers were able to bring staff back to work.

SMMT has launched ’10 reasons to #unlockukauto campaign. The market fell by a ‘devastating -97.3%’ in April.

Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said, “Government measures to support the critical automotive industry during the crisis have provided an essential lifeline, and the sector is now ready to return to work to help the UK rebuild. Car showrooms, just like garden centres, are spacious and can accommodate social distancing easily, making them some of the UK’s safest retail premises. Allowing dealers to get back to business will help stimulate consumer confidence and unlock recovery of the wider industry, boosting tax revenue and reducing the burden on government spending. Unlike many other retail sectors, car sales act as the engine for manufacturing and reopening showrooms is an easy and relatively safe next step to help get the economy restarted. With every day of closure another day of lost income for the industry and Treasury, we see no reason for delay”.

SMMT’s 10 reasons to #unlockukauto

  1. SAFE SPACES
  2. RETAILERS ARE
  3. SUPPORTING JOBS UK
  4. BOOSTING THE ECONOMY
  5. HELPING PEOPLE BACK TO WORK SAFELY
  6. REDUCING THE BURDEN ON GOVERNMENT
  7. CUSTOMER DEMAND
  8. ACCELERATING FLEET RENEWAL
  9. SUPPORTING UK
  10. TECHNOLOGY AND CHOICE

For more information, head over to SMMT.