The Scottish Motor Trade Association (SMTA) has said sales are down 9.9% in Scotland in comparison to UK totals revealed by the SMMT.
Scotland’s new car market fell -2.0% while figures for the rest of the UK were down -1.0%.
Alan Gall, SMTA chief executive, said: “On the surface, Scotland’s vehicle sales for February have Scotland as an outlier compared with the rest of the UK, however it does not take too much investigation to see this is only a small part of the story.
“February is always a strange month with private buyers preferring to wait for the new number plate on the 1st of March, and fleet operators are often in a position of strength in their negotiations with manufacturers desperate to achieve their monthly sales targets.
“Fleet sales are down 19% for the month and, whilst this is more than likely a blip in what is traditionally a problematic month, we will keep an eye on this hoping the blip does not become a trend.”
Pure battery electric vehicle sales YTD showed a 57% increase compared with 2024 as BEVs now account for 13.5% of total sales.
Gall said: “Sales of BEV cars, meanwhile, have spiked due to the pending tax changes in April meaning many models will be subject to vehicle excise duty expensive car supplement for the first time.”
In terms of popularity of marques, Volkswagen dominates. The brand has increased its market share to just under 12%.
However, the Vauxhall Corsa is Scotland’s best-selling car. Compared with 2024, YTD sales for Vauxhaul have grown 50% in 2025.
