With the pandemic, a lot of industries have been affected. But what is the case when it comes to the motoring industry? Well, a lot has happened from car sales dropping to the lack of driving lessons taking place due to social distancing and lockdowns. Hopefully, with the recent vaccine distribution picking up, we can only hope that things will improve. Round Trip Tyres analyzes how the pandemic has affected the motoring industry since it began.

Car Sales

Car dealerships have been classed a being non-essential and as such, they’ve had to close their doors. That’s meant that many car sales have plummeted due to many car buyers turning to these dealerships when they need a new set of wheels.

Demand fell dramatically during the first lockdown and sadly due to the uncertainty of when things will open up again, car sales continue to stay low. Due to the situation of the pandemic, a lot of people are working from home and so the question of whether they need a new car might come into question. The cost of running a car isn’t cheap and if you’re not going anywhere other than to do a food shop, you might put off getting a new car until things return to normal.

The newest laws surrounding carbon emissions have also brought about a higher demand for electric cars and that COVID-19 has only sped this up.

Driving Lessons

For many of those who wanted to learn to drive during the pandemic has had to deal with stopping and starting. As a result, those who have tried to start may need to start over again with so much time spent in lockdown. Being able to share cars with other households is not allowed according to the law and that has made it difficult for car instructors to conduct lessons.

However, if the driving instructor and learner has had a negative test, then driving lessons can go ahead. This all sounds suitable but then you would have to take a test every time you wanted a lesson and that’s not something that is easy or fun to do. For many, they’ve instead hit the pause button on learning to drive until things go back to some semblance of normality.

Usage Of Vehicles

One thing that many have seemed to notice is that the environment around us is a lot cleaner than it was before. The reason for this might be due to the fact that a lot of vehicles aren’t out on the road as per usual. A lot of supermarket brands have adapted to the increase in online ordering and many households are choosing to get deliveries to their property, rather than to risk getting the virus by going into a supermarket that’s filled with hundreds of people at a time.

As we continue to grow in an online-driven society, it’s not a surprise that vehicle usage has gone down. It’s not only that though but the fact that many people are now working from home. As many businesses and industries have had to adapt to remote working, there’s really no need to take your car out and as a result, a lot of fuel can be saved.

So what does that mean for vehicle usage in the future? Well, it’s apparent for many of us that the pandemic has made us appreciate pretty much everything in life that we can’t currently do. As such, there will likely be a demand for most people who will want to get out and about. Whether that’s seeing family, socialising with friends, going to events, eating out – it will all require transport of some sort.

Many people will also want to go back to work in an office environment and so things will likely get back to normal when it comes to vehicle usage.

The motoring industry overall

Regardless, the motoring industry has been impacted quite substantially overall. Nobody could have predicted quite how hard this pandemic would hit the world, let alone daily life. It’s also something that we didn’t realise would go on for so long either. It’s good to remain optimistic when it comes to the pandemic and that with the vaccine, we can hopefully now see a light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel.

It’s important that regardless of whether you’re using your car or not, that you keep it well maintained. Continue running it as and when it needs it and keep taking it in for its regular check-ups to the garage when necessary.