UK new car market buoyed by fleet operators’ demand

London – The UK new car market grew 21% year-on-year in September with 272,610 registrations in the month, figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show.

The figure marks a 14th consecutive month of increase in demand and the second busiest of the year after March, with the new number plate delivering its traditional market surge, SMMT reported 5 Oct.

Growth was mainly driven by large fleets, which saw nearly 41% year-on-year increase to 143,256 units to reach a market share of 52.5%.

This, according to SMMT, represents a “market rebalancing” after constrained supply in 2022 restricted deliveries to business and fleet customers.

Private consumer demand also grew by nearly 6% to 122,944 units during the month, marking the “best September since 2020”.

Despite the growth, private consumer registrations remained 20.6% below pre-pandemic levels of 2019, SMMT added.

Electrific vehicle uptake continued to grow in the month, with plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) up 51% to take a 6.8% market share and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) up 30.7% to account for 14% of all registrations.

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs), meanwhile, recorded 41st consecutive month of growth – with 45,323 drivers making the switch, a 19% uplift.

In particular, the BEV volume increases were driven “entirely by fleet purchases”, which rose by 50.6%, according to SMMT.

Private BEV registrations, on the other hand, fell 14.3% with less than one in 10 private new car buyers opting for electric during the month.

The UK association noted that the decline underlined the importance of providing motorists with purchase incentives and other mechanisms to stimulate demand.

“A bumper September means the new car market remains strong despite economic challenges,” explained Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive.

However, with tougher EV targets for manufacturers coming into force next year, Haws stressed the need to incentivise motorist to transition to electric mobility.

Measure, he said, should include creating private purchase incentives, equalising on-street charging VAT with off-street domestic rates and mandating chargepoint rollout.