Late spring bonus for new car market

With 147,678 units reaching the road, it was the best May market performance since 2021 but remains 19.6 per cent down on 2019.

Fleets and businesses were up 14 per cent and 9.5 per cent respectively, narrowly offsetting a 12.9 per cent decline in private retail uptake.

Deliveries of petrol and diesel cars fell but demand for electrified vehicles rose, with plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) recording the highest growth of all powertrains, up 31.5 per cent to reach an eight per cent market share, and hybrids (HEVs) rising 9.6 per cent to 13.2 per cent of the market.

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Battery electric vehicle (BEV) registrations were up 6.2 per cent to take a 17.6 per cent market share, up from 16.9 per cent in the same month last year.

Uptake is still driven by the fleet sector, where volumes rose 10.7 per cent. Private retail BEV uptake fell by two per cent.

This performance is below the trajectory mandated on manufacturers by the government’s Vehicle Emissions Trading Scheme, which demands 22 per cent of each brand’s new vehicles sold this year to be zero emission.

SMMT said that the market performance underlines the need for the next government to provide private consumers with meaningful purchase incentives.

In a statement, Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “As Britain prepares for next month’s general election, the new car market continues to hold steady as large fleets sustain growth, offsetting weakened private retail demand.

“Consumers enjoy a plethora of new electric models and some very attractive offers, but manufacturers can’t sustain this scale of support on their own indefinitely. Their success so far should be a signpost for the next government that a faster and fairer transition requires carrots, not just sticks.”

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