Editor's note

Happy New Year to you all, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas break.

We enter 2022 off the back of what Mike Hawes, chief of the SMMT, describes as ‘desperately disappointing’ year for the new car market. Registrations saw just 1% growth on the pandemic-torn 2020 and was 28.7% down on the pre-pandemic 2019. The crisis is likely to continue well into the new year, with predictions citing Q3 the earliest possible scenario for a return to full capacity.

However, there does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel. New semiconductor chip factories will begin production, further supporting those manufacturers and finance providers who have been working extremely hard in recent months to alleviate some of the stress caused by the shortages.

There is certainly a more positive outlook for the industry this year, with the accelerating adoption of electric vehicles a huge positive for the market. More battery electric vehicles were registered in 2021 than the previous five years combined. Two in five new car models are now electrified, and yet more can still be done.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, stated that the biggest obstacle facing mass adoption is not product availability, but the cost and charging infrastructure. “Recent cuts to incentives and home charging grants should be reversed and we need to boost the roll-out of public on-street charging with mandated targets, providing every driver, wherever they live, with the assurance they can charge where they want and when they want.”

In the magazine this month, reporter Chris Farnell looks at the growing trend of crypto finance and its possible future deployment in the motor finance industry. We also turn our attention towards the motor insurance sector, which has witnessed significant changes in regulation and customer behaviour since the start of the pandemic.

Our Comment section looks ahead to the future of the industry, with advice from Oodle on how dealers can navigate the post-pandemic waters and an update on the supply chain situation from advisory firm Kroll.

One final housekeeping notice: it is with sadness to let you know that I will be moving onto pastures new next month. It has been a real pleasure to cover and report on the motor finance industry; I have forged some real friendships with many of you and will no doubt be checking in to see how the market progresses in the future.

All the best,

Chris Lemmon, editor