New car sales jumped by 13.7% in September over the 2024 figure and were boosted by an increase in registrations of 29.1% for EVs, according to data released by the SMMT.
This represents an overall 23.3% market share for the month for EVs, taking the year-to-date share to 22.1%. Pre-registration activity is going to become a necessity over the coming months.
The uptake on new EVs is just not quick enough. Of Chinese brands on sale in the UK, the Chery Group sold over 12,000 cars taking 3.86% of the market. BYD took a 3.6% market share, whilst Tesla took a 2.5% share with Polestar following at 0.9%.
Brego Insight data showed an increase of 9.7% in total pre-registered cars advertised in the UK market during September.
For EVs, there was a 13.2% increase: some 3.5 percentage points higher than the total market figure. The average price for a pre-registered EV increased by 7.5% to £30,872.
Rupert Pontin, Head of Insight and Communications at Brego, said: “As the year draws to a close, we expect the month on month % of registered EVs to increase as the manufacturers chase their end of year targets.
“Consumer demand for used EVs will play a critical part in whether used car prices are forced significantly downwards by the deals on new EVs.
“There is, without doubt, a sense of nervousness in the used car market over a further decline in EV used prices, with many anecdotal comments reflecting on how the sector may cope with what some see as stormy waters ahead.”
