UK New Car Registrations Rise On Heavy EV Discounting: SMMT

(RTTNews) - UK new car registrations increased in '74' plate change month of September on heavy EV discounting, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, or SMMT, said Friday.

New car sales rose 1.0 percent to 275,239 units in September.

In what is traditionally a bumper month for new car registrations, second only to March, the performance was the best since 2020, but still down 19.8 percent off pre-Covid September 2019.

Growth in sales was driven by fleet purchases, up 3.7 percent. Private consumer demand fell 1.8 percent and the smaller business sector saw volumes drop by 8.4 percent.

Uptake of plug-in hybrids grew faster than any other fuel type in September, up 32.1 percent.

Hybrid electric vehicle registrations grew 2.6 percent, while petrol and diesel registrations declined by 9.3 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively. In the year-to-date period, new car registrations increased 4.3 percent from the previous year. SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes said, "September's record EV performance is good news, but look under the bonnet and there are serious concerns as the market is not growing quickly enough to meet mandated targets."

"Despite manufacturers spending billions on both product and market support - support that the industry cannot sustain indefinitely - market weakness is putting environmental ambitions at risk and jeopardising future investment," said Hawes.