In 2020, following the corona virus pandemic, the new forecasts for passenger car sales in Saudi Arabia was approximately *** thousand units. The forecasts of passenger car sales for that year previous to the pandemic was about *** thousand units.

Out of 575 survey participants in the U.S. who delayed purchasing a new vehicle during COVID-19 restrictions in 2020, nearly half of the participants claimed that they would feel comfortable buying a vehicle from a dealership within ** days of the restrictions being lifted. Only ***** percent of respondents said that they would wait at least six months after restrictions have been lifted. Restrictions in the U.S. Like many countries worldwide, measures to slow down and control the spread of COVID-19 on a national scale were implemented across several U.S. states. Such measures included the temporary closure of schools, bars, restaurants, and movie theaters, along with the cancellation or postponement of several large public events. While online activity in the U.S. has steadily increased during the pandemic, e-tailers in the automotive industry are predicting a decrease in sales: projected auto sales growth for 2020 in the U.S. are anticipated to be **** percent below the level *** year earlier. Post-lockdown behavior Respondents in this survey were also asked whether they would feel comfortable performing other activities after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. A total of ** percent of respondents stated that they were comfortable buying a vehicle from a dealership within a month of restrictions being lifted, ** percent claimed that they would feel comfortable returning to work, ** percent would dine in at a restaurant, and only ** percent would travel via airplane.

In 2020, motor vehicle sales dropped worldwide, following mobility restrictions amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Latin American countries were also impacted, although in different levels. In the region's largest vehicle markets, namely Brazil and Mexico, sales decreased by **** and **** percent, respectively, when compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, in Ecuador and Costa Rica, sales of light and heavy motor vehicles declined by more than ** percent. In contrast, in Uruguay, motor vehicles sales registered a year-over-year drop of ** percent.

Worldwide car sales grew to around ** million automobiles in 2024, up from around **** million units in 2023. Throughout 2020 and 2021, the sector experienced a downward trend on the back of a slowing global economy, while COVID-19 and the Russian war on Ukraine contributed to shortages in the automotive semiconductor industry and further supply chain disruptions in 2022. Despite these challenges, 2023 and 2024 sales surpassed pre-pandemic levels and are forecast to keep rising through 2025 and 2026. Covid-19 hits car demand It had been estimated pre-pandemic that international car sales were on track to reach ** million. While 2023 sales are still far away from that goal, this was the first year were car sales exceeded pre-pandemic values. The automotive market faced various challenges in 2023, including supply shortages, automotive layoffs, and strikes in North America. However, despite these hurdles, the North American market was among the fastest-growing regions in 2024, along with Eastern Europe and Asia, as auto sales in these regions increased year-on-year. Chinese market recovers After years of double-digit growth, China's economy began to lose steam in 2022, and recovery has been slow through 2023. China was the largest automobile market based on sales with around **** million units in 2023. However, monthly car sales in China were in free-fall in April 2022 partly due to shortages, fears over a looming recession, and the country grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. By June of that same year, monthly sales in China were closer to those recorded in 2021.

As of October 2020, North American auto demand was around 2.5 million units below 2019 levels. In terms of production in North America's largest market, output in the U.S. automotive industry was roughly 4,300 units in April 2020. U.S. plants reopened after a nine-week shutdown amid the coronavirus outbreak in the United States.

As the e-commerce industry becomes a prominent platform for converting sales globally amid the Covid-19 pandemic, attitudes toward buying a car online remain considerably hesitant, according to a survey conducted by Capgemini in May 2020. Respondents from the UK, at ** percent, proved less likely to buy their future cars online from an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) or dealership, while respondents from India (** percent) and China (** percent) claimed they would buy their car online in the future. It is clear from these statistics that some reluctance toward purchasing cars online in the future still remains.

The global auto industry is anticipated to be affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 in all major markets. In a worst-case scenario, the industry's gross value added could be down 10.6 percent in 2020.

The U.S. auto industry sold nearly ************* cars in 2024. That year, total car and light truck sales were approximately ************ in the United States. U.S. vehicle sales peaked in 2016 at roughly ************ units. Pandemic impact The COVID-19 pandemic deeply impacted the U.S. automotive market, accelerating the global automotive semiconductor shortage and leading to a drop in demand during the first months of 2020. However, as demand rebounded, new vehicle supply could not keep up with the market. U.S. inventory-to-sales ratio dropped to its lowest point in February 2022, as Russia's war on Ukraine lead to gasoline price hikes. During that same period, inflation also impacted new and used car prices, pricing many U.S. consumers out of a market with increasingly lower car stocks. Focus on fuel economy The U.S. auto industry had one of its worst years in 1982 when customers were beginning to feel the effects of the 1973 oil crisis and the energy crisis of 1979. Since light trucks would often be considered less fuel-efficient, cars accounted for about ** percent of light vehicle sales back then. Thanks to improved fuel economy for light trucks and cheaper gas prices, this picture had completely changed in 2020. That year, prices for Brent oil dropped to just over ** U.S. dollars per barrel. The decline occurred in tandem with lower gasoline prices, which came to about **** U.S. dollars per gallon in 2020 - and cars only accounted for less than one-fourth of light vehicle sales that year. Four years on, prices are dropping again, after being the highest on record since 1990 in 2022.

Between 2019 and 2024, the largest segment of MAN SE in terms of unit sales was the vans segment. In 2024, the company sold nearly ****** vans. The sharp period of decline in vehicle sales during 2020 was in the midst of both the COVID-19 pandemic and global semiconductor shortages. It was not only MAN that suffered such losses as the number of cars sold worldwide suffered a decline during that same period.

With online sales representing a core element in the recovery of car sales and customer conversion during the Covid-19 pandemic, contactless interaction between consumer and dealer has become a key topic of discussion. A Capgemini survey revealed differences in consumer preferences between the U.S., the UK, and Germany. While approximately ************** of U.S. respondents consider a contactless test-drive vehicle delivery service vital, the response from UK and German respondents was less conclusive. A total of ** percent of UK respondents and ** percent of German respondents believe this service would be important for them when it comes to purchasing a vehicle online.

In 2023, Morocco sold more than ******* passenger cars. The number of units sold experienced a peak in 2018, at ******* vehicles. Over the observed period, passenger cars in the country experienced a significant drop in 2020, as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Moreover, car sales were lowest in 2013, with around ******* cars sold.

From 2016 to 2022, vehicle sales generally increased. Sales grew from ***** thousand units in 2016 to *** thousand units in 2019. In 2020, vehicle sales fell to *** thousand units, but was followed by a period of significant growth between 2021 and 2023, with ***** and ***** thousand units sold.

The brief period of decline in total vehicle sales was in the midst of both the COVID-19 pandemic and global semiconductor shortages. It was not only the Traton Group that suffered such losses as the number of cars sold worldwide suffered a decline during that same period.

As of 2023, the annual new passenger car sales in France amounted to nearly **** million passenger cars, representing ** percent increase from the previous year. New passenger car sales recorded a downward trend throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in France, dropping from over *** million cars sold in 2019 to just under **** million sales in 2021. The semiconductor chip shortage also impacted production and sales for French automakers, which contributed to a very slow recovery.

In December 2023, approximately *** million passenger cars and ******* commercial vehicles were sold in China, an increase compared to the previous month. Automobile demand in China China is home to the world’s largest market for automobile sales. Despite the recent decline in passenger car sales in China during the COVID-19 pandemic, the market bounced back and in 2023, the sales exceeded ** million units, making it the highest figure in the past years. Chinese car manufacturers China’s automobile market used to be dominated by international car manufacturers until recently. In 2021, Chinese manufactured vehicles had a market share of about **** percent in the Chinese vehicle market, followed by German vehicles and Japanese vehicles. The leading passenger car manufacturer is FAW-Volkswagen, which reported sales of about *** million vehicles in the same period.

At around 1.2 million unit sales, light trucks remained the largest U.S. auto market segment in August 2025, up from around 1.1 million unit sales in August 2024. Global chip shortage affects supply The second quarter of 2020 saw a significant drop in automotive sales volume compared to the year before. Most of the disruption was seen in May, before restrictions to curtail the coronavirus pandemic were lifted. Sales showed signs of recovery in the following months, before dropping again in 2021. The industry's inventory-to-sales ratio nosedived in May 2020, and has not fully recovered since. Supply issues were not felt as strongly across the automotive sector, while car demand was low due to national lockdowns brought on by the pandemic. However, as consumers' purchasing intentions picked up, vehicle stocks could not meet the new demand due to chip shortages, which led to production halts and cuts. U.S. vehicle sales gain momentum thanks to light truck sales As the year 2020 came to an end, motor vehicle sales in the United States finished on a high note. Following the Covid-19 disruption, the U.S. auto sector began to recover in the third quarter. However, the semiconductor shortage and global inflation further impacted sales in 2021 and 2022. In contrast, 2024 was an encouraging year. U.S. motor vehicle sales grew to over 15.8 million that year, which was the highest it had been since the onset of the pandemic. This jump in sales was partly due to light truck retail sales, which exceeded their pre-pandemic level in 2024.

At about 21.47 million units, China remained the largest market for passenger car sales in 2024. According to the source, passenger cars are motor vehicles with at least four wheels, used for the transport of passengers, and comprising no more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat. Hence, the figures do not include light trucks. Pandemic causes sales slump across all markets Worldwide, passenger car sales have been slowly increasing. Car sales started falling dramatically during the 2008-2009 economic crisis and re-entered a sales slump at the end of 2018. Sales slumped in 2020 due to the outbreak of Covid-19 and related measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus. However, despite the impact of the semiconductor chip shortage on vehicle production, global car sales have slowly increased in 2021 and 2022. Since 2023, the number has amounted above pre-pandemic levels, and it is expected to incline more in 2025. Spotlight on the largest markets In Europe, about 75 percent of new passenger car registrations occur in the largest markets, which include Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain. Despite a slowdown in demand in 2020, China has seen the largest increases in passenger vehicle sales between 2005 and 2020, growing from 3.97 million units to some 20 million units. During this time period, leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like General Motors or Volkswagen enjoyed rising sales trends not just in China, but across all Asian markets. China, Japan, Germany, India, and the United States are ranked among the world’s largest car markets. These countries are home to many of the major motor vehicle manufacturers, including the world’s largest automakers in 2024.

In 2020, light vehicle sales worldwide declined by almost ** percent. By 2024, the market had increased well over pre-pandemic levels, despite supply chain issues, surges in automotive layoffs, and strikes in North America. In North America, around **** million light vehicles were sold in 2024. Light vehicle sales were to be around **** million units in the United States, North America's largest market, up from around **** million units one year earlier. Semiconductors Thrive Amidst the brewing tension brought forth due to the COVID-19 pandemic and global conflict, the semiconductor supply chain saw significant disruptions. Seemingly, one would expect that particular industry to have suffered greatly from such disruptions, but despite everything, global semiconductor industry revenue actually increased during 2020 and beyond, going from *** billion U.S. dollars in 2019 up to *** billion in 2022. In 2023, and even more so in 2024, the demand for semiconductors has surged, with companies like NVIDIA having nearly *** trillion U.S. dollars of market capitalization. Automotive Supply Global automotive suppliers, such as Bosch and Denso, suffered losses during the same period of instability in recent years, where the top 10 leading global automotive suppliers saw decreases in revenue from *** billion U.S. dollars in 2019 to *** billion dollars in 2020. These revenues bounced back in 2021 and beyond, reaching *** billion dollars in 2022. In particular, the earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) margins of nearly every automotive supply segment have bounced back from the reported disruptions; this includes original equipment manufacturers, and software suppliers.

Sales of used light vehicles in the United States came to around **** million units in 2024. In the same period, approximately **** million new light trucks and automobiles were sold here. Declining availability of vehicles In the fourth quarter of 2024, about ***** million vehicles were in operation in the United States, an increase of around *** percent year-over-year. The rising demand for vehicles paired with an overall price inflation lead to a rise in new vehicle prices. In contrast, used vehicle prices slightly decreased. E-commerce: a solution for the bumpy road ahead? Financial reports have revealed how the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has triggered a shift in vehicle-buying behavior. With many consumer goods and services now bought online due to COVID-19, the automobile industry has also started to digitally integrate its services online to reach consumers with a preference for contactless test driving amid the global crisis. Several dealers and automobile companies had already begun to tap into online car sales before the pandemic, some of them being Carvana and Tesla.

In 2020, China, Germany, and the U.S. recorded significant slumps in passenger vehicle sales due to the lockdowns imposed by their respective governments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, global passenger vehicle sales increased due to the relaxation of lockdowns on the one hand and stimulus policies on the other hand. However, sales volume in China, Germany, and the U.S. were still below 2019 levels.

Despite fluctuations, the passenger car market in Poland is developing slowly and systematically. Having more than one car in a family is no longer a luxury but, in many cases, a necessity. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the number of registered vehicles reached nearly *******. A total of about ******* passenger vehicles were registered, an increase of ** percent compared to the previous year. Popular passenger car brands in Poland In 2024, the unquestionable leader in the passenger car market was Toyota. The most popular passenger car models was Toyota Corolla, with nearly **** units sold. Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, all the car brands saw a decline in sales in 2020. However, the situation in the market stabilized in 2021. Electric car market in Poland The list of electric cars in Poland is systematically growing, as is the consumers' appetite for using this type of vehicle. In 2024, the number of used and newly registered electric cars in Poland increased by **** percent compared to the previous year. Purchasing BEV electric cars accounted for approximately ** percent of the entire electric car market. However, it is expected that by 2030 there will be ******* battery electric cars on Polish roads.