The UK new car market rose by 2.5% in July, delivering two years of consecutive growth, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The fleet sector recorded a 13% increase in registrations to achieve a 62% market share.
Commenting on yesterday’s SMMT new vehicle registration data, Toby Poston, BVRLA Director of Corporate Affairs, said:
“Fleet registrations, led by the huge popularity of salary sacrifice car schemes, continue to drive the uptake of EVs. This sends a clear message to the new Government. It needs to maintain access to these employee benefits and prolong current Benefit-in-Kind tax incentives in the upcoming 30 October Budget if it wants to have any chance of meeting its ZEV Mandate and Phase Out targets.
"Policymakers need to take this playbook and apply it to the electric van and private EV markets, where a lack of adequate incentives and shortage of cost-competitive product continues to stifle demand.”
Electrified vehicle demand outpaced the overall market, accounting for 42% of new cars registered in the month. Hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) uptake increased by 31% to achieve a 15% market share, while plug-in hybrids (PHEV) grew 12% to take 9% of registrations. Battery electric vehicle (BEV) volumes, meanwhile, were up 19%. Overall, BEVs account for 17% of the new car market, year to date.
The SMMT’s industry outlook anticipates overall market growth in 2024, however, expectations have been revised downwards since April with 1.968 million new car registrations now forecast by the end of the year. The anticipated BEV share of the market has also been revised downwards to 18.5% from the 19.8% expected in April.
Meanwhile, the UK’s light commercial vehicle (LCV) market dropped -8.5% in July with 24,689 vans, 4x4s, pickups and taxis joining the road. The overall market remains robust with registrations up 2.7% year to date to become the best first seven months since 2019.
Manufacturers are also launching ever more new battery electric vehicle (BEV) models into the LCV market. 28 models are now available to UK buyers – up from 25 last year. That choice isn’t generating registrations though, new BEV registrations were down -15% to 1,415 units. Since January, BEVs have accounted for 5% of all new vans – meaning zero emission uptake is down -7% across the year.
