1:53 pm, February 9, 2021
New car sales were hit hard in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic shuttered dealerships for months on end and put many consumers into financial hardship.
This can be seen in UK sales, which were down almost 30 per cent on 2019 to 1.6m, even though electrified models saw decent percentage increases.
The sports car market was one such area that was hit particularly hard, with buyers seemingly turning away from extravagant purchases and looking to more practical vehicles.
New European car sales data from Car Industry Analysis (CIA) shows the supercar market, known as F-Sport, saw a decline of 30 per cent last year compared with 2019. The likes of the Ferrari 812 (-18 per cent), Lamborghini Aventador (-54 per cent) and Rolls-Royce Wraith (-37 per cent) all saw declines.
The E-Sport segment covers luxury coupes and convertibles and weathered the storm better than other markets, dropping 16 per cent to 23,500. The Porsche 911 increased sales by 13 per cent to avert more catastrophic figures, but the Audi R8 Spyder (20 per cent) was the only other model to see an increase.
D-Sport, which sees mid-range sports cars included, saw sales drop by a third to 39,000 units. This was mostly down to poor coupe sales with the Toyota Supra the only competitor seeing sales go up (eight per cent to 954).
Finally, the C-Sport segment, which includes the least expensive two-seat coupes and convertibles, saw a decline of a whopping 70 per cent. This lead CIA to warn this is an endangered segment, with the Fiat 124 Spider being taken off sale and the Mazda MX-5 losing 67 per cent of sales compared with 2019.
2020 results: the C-Sports is an endangered segment and with the discontinuation of #Fiat124Spider, the situation is getting really bad. Last year, only 6,200 people bought one of these, down 70%! it’s not clear whether #Mazda will develop or not a new #MazdaMX5. Sad news pic.twitter.com/gDsY5V8HD2
— Car Industry Analysis (@lovecarindustry) February 6, 2021
