9:22 am, September 5, 2024
The UK new car market fell by 1.3% last month with 84,575 units registered, the SMMT said this morning.
August is traditionally one of the quietest months of the year for new car sales, and the trade body said that with just 1,082 fewer sales than in the same month last year, many buyers were preferring to wait until September’s new number plate.
Continuing the recent trend, fleet purchases drove the market, accounting for six in 10 cars registered last month, or 51,329 units, despite a 1.2% drop versus August 2023.
Registrations by private buyers were flat – up 0.2% to 32,110 units – while business registrations were down by a whopping 30.3% to 1,136 units.
Petrol and diesel uptake fell by 10.1% and 7.3% to 42,872 and 5,165 vehicles respectively. However, together they still formed more than half (56.8%) of all new car uptake in August.
Plug-in hybrid (PHEV) registrations sank by 12.3% to 5,786, with a 6.8% market share, but hybrid-electric vehicle (HEV) uptake rose by a stonking 36.1% to 11,639 and 13.8% of the market.
Battery-electric vehicle (BEV) registrations, meanwhile, rose by 10.8% to 19,113 units thanks to heavy discounting by manufacturers over the summer and a raft of new models attracting buyers.
Their market share in August reached 22.6%, which was the highest for a month since December 2022, when BEVs commanded 32.9% of all new cars reaching the road.
Over the year to date, BEV market share has edged up to 17.2% and is expected to rise further to 18.5% by the end of 2024, thanks to increasing model choice – with some 364,000 BEVs registrations forecast for the year.
But the SMMT warned that despite the growth, it’ll still be shy of the 22% required by the ZEV mandate.
With the autumn Budget due on 30 October, the industry body is demanding urgent action to strengthen the market for new EVs.
They include binding targets on public chargepoint provision that align with the ones for industry, as well as reintroducing incentives for private buyers and removing disincentives, including the vehicle excise duty expensive car supplement, which is set to be introduced in 2025.
The top-selling model was the Ford Puma at 2,471 units, followed by the Kia Sportage (1,962) and Tesla Model 3 (1,542).
Following them to complete the top 10 were the VW Polo (1,524), Tesla Model Y (1,469), VW Golf (1,437), VW T-Roc (1,297), Volvo XC40 (1,202), Hyundai Tucson (1,198) and Nissan Qashqai (1,170).
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: ‘August’s EV growth is welcome, but it’s always a very low volume month and so subject to distortions ahead of September’s number plate change.
‘The introduction of the new 74 plate, together with a raft of compelling offers and discounts from manufacturers, plus growing model choice, will help increase purchase consideration and be a true barometer for market demand.
‘Encouraging a mass market shift to EVs remains a challenge, however, and urgent action must be taken to help buyers overcome affordability issues and concerns about chargepoint provision.’
What the industry says
Cautiously hopeful over growth in EV interest
UK registrations were sluggish overall in August as buyers historically hold fire for September’s plate change, although we did see a better balance between fleet and retail demand, and stronger growth for electric vehicles.
As we approach the end of the first year of the government’s ZEV mandate, we’re cautiously hopeful that this growth in EV interest will translate into higher sales, although the current market share still remains below the 22% required by the ZEV rules.
In order to ensure this is a fair and successful transition, we need confidence in the existing support for the new car market, financial incentives to make used EVs affordable for all, transparency about future changes in road pricing and taxes, as well as full support for the charging industry to speed up installation.
Ian Plummer, commercial director, Auto Trader
ZEV mandate putting sector under impossible pressure
The ZEV mandate may be grounded in good intention, but it is putting the new vehicle sector under impossible and unreasonable pressure.
The tactics we are likely to see deployed by OEMs and retailers to hit their numbers in the closing months of this year will be drastic, expensive and risky, creating an unrealistic and unnatural market with potentially far-reaching consequences over the long term.
We urge the government to listen to the sector’s feedback, review the mandate and implement support packages to fast-track EV adoption.
August played out as we expected. We stand by our forecast of 2.02m registrations for the full year. Still, we are in no doubt that September and Q4 will be an extremely challenging period for the sector.
Philip Nothard, insight director, Cox Automotive
BEV leads are taking longer to convert
The SMMT registration figures point to an improving picture for the battery-electric vehicle market, and our data suggests there are clear reasons for optimism into Q4.
That said, we know from our own research that BEV leads are taking longer to convert and those prospects who are new to electrified mobility need a much greater level of guidance, information and reassurance before they commit.
Many OEMs have been taking bolder steps to drive the BEV market over recent months, but that alone can’t be the answer.
We’ve found the opportunities are undoubtedly there for those dealers who are best able to really drive engagement and adapt to the unique characteristics of the BEV sales journey, which continues to evolve as the UK makes faltering progress towards mass adoption.
Philipp Sayler von Amende, chief commercial officer – Get Your Car, Carwow
