British Car Sales Plummeted 90 Pct In May

May was a devastating month for Great Britain’s auto industry, as sales fell by 90 percent.

Aston Martin, the London car manufacturer, and Lookers, a dealership chain in the U.K. and Ireland, cut thousands of jobs amid the slump caused by COVID-19, the Financial Times reported.

Aston Martin cut 500 jobs, which consisted of one-fifth of its workforce, while Lookers eliminated 1,500 positions and closed a dozen dealerships.

Last month, 20,247 vehicles were sold, compared with 183,724 for the same month last year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the car industry’s trade group. 

The report said the car industry, which was already affected by a drop in sales and dwindling consumer confidence even before the coronavirus struck, has been forced to shutter its factories and showrooms for weeks due to the pandemic.

“After a second month of shutdowns and the inevitable yet devastating impact on the market, this week’s reopening of dealerships is a pivotal moment for the entire industry and the thousands of people whose jobs depend on it,” Michael Hawes, SMMT’s CEO, told the Times.

Of last month’s sales, 12,900 were made to traditional customers, while only 7,347 were sold to businesses, as ride-hailing companies saw demand evaporate.

The layoffs come one week after McLaren Automotive, a car maker in Surrey, a county in Southeast England, trimmed 1,200 jobs under a proposed restructuring program as it deals with the fallout from the pandemic. The job cuts represent more than 25 percent of the company’s workforce of more than 4,000, Reuters reported.

McLaren Executive Chairman Paul Walsh said dramatic measures have already been taken to avoid layoffs, but that the dire economic situation has forced the company’s hand.

“This is undoubtedly a challenging time for our company, and particularly our people, but we plan to emerge as an efficient, sustainable business with a clear course for returning to growth,” Walsh told Reuters.

England’s dealerships reopened on Monday (June 1), the report said, in hopes that social distancing measures would bring customers back and revive sales for car factories across the U.K. and Europe.