The UK new car market rose 1.0% in the key ‘74’ plate change month of September, to 275,239 units, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). In what is traditionally a bumper month for new car registrations, second only to March, the performance was the best since 2020, but still -19.8% off pre-Covid September 2019.1
Growth was driven by fleet purchases, up 3.7% to 149,095 units and representing 54.2% of the overall market. Private consumer demand fell, by -1.8% to 120,272 units, accounting for 43.7% of registrations, while the smaller business sector saw volumes fall -8.4% to 5,872 units.
Uptake of plug-in hybrids (PHEV) grew faster than any other fuel type in the month, up 32.1% to take an 8.9% share of the market. Hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) registrations rose 2.6%, boosting market share to 14.2%, while petrol and diesel registrations declined by -9.3% and -7.1% respectively, although together they were still the choice of 56.4% of buyers in September.
Demand for the latest battery electric vehicles (BEV) hit a new record volume for any month in September, up 24.4% to 56,387 units, achieving a 20.5% share of the overall market, up from 16.6% a year ago. This was not enough, however, to shift market share significantly, which edged up from 17.2% in the first eight months, to 17.8% from January- September. It is expected to reach 18.5% by the end of the year.
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