New car registrations rose by 8.2% during January as Britain’s millionth electric vehicle hit the roads, new data has shown.
Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) highlight an increase of 10,882 registrations during January – to a total of 142,876 new cars – making it the best performance for the month since 2020. It also makes January the 18th consecutive month of growth.
The SMMT says that this rise was driven ‘entirely’ by the fleet market which rocketed by 29.9 per cent, while in contrast, private registrations fell by 15.8 per cent. In total, fleets accounted for more than six in 10 new cars registered – or 63.2 per cent – up from 52.7 per cent last year.
BEV market share for January also grew year on year to 14.7%, although this is below the full 2023 performance of 16.5%.
PHEVs recorded volume growth of 31.1% to take 8.4% of the market, while HEV volumes fell -1.2% with a 13.1% share.https://t.co/Y1IwMi3cFR pic.twitter.com/iW5EhwkbRf
— SMMT (@SMMT) February 5, 2024
There were also 20,935 electric vehicles sold during the month – a rise of 21 per cent year-on-year – as the market passed its millionth battery-powered vehicle overall. Market share for these vehicles also grew year-on-year to 14.7 per cent, though this still lags behind the full 2023 performance of 16.5 per cent. Plug-in hybrids also saw record volume growth of 31.1 per cent, meaning that they held 8.4 per cent of the market. ‘Regular’ hybrid registrations fell by 1.2 per cent, however, with a 13.1 per cent share.
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said, “It’s taken just over 20 years to reach our million EV milestone – but with the right policies, we can double down on that success in just another two. Market growth is currently dependent on businesses and fleets.
“Government must therefore use the upcoming Budget to support private EV buyers, temporarily halving VAT to cut carbon, drive economic growth and help everyone make the switch. Manufacturers have been asked to supply the vehicles, we now ask government to help consumers buy the vehicles on which net zero depends.”