Electric and plug-in hybrid cars continued to grow in popularity last month, despite a broader drop in the number of new cars registered across the UK.
New car registrations fell from 134,274 in April 2024 to 120,331 last month, a year-on-year drop of 10.4%.
That made last month the worst April for new car registrations since 2022 and far behind pre-pandemic April 2019, when nearly 160,000 cars were sold.
However, sales of EVs increased by 8.1% to 24,558, and sales of PHEVs rose by 34.1% to 14,073.
Registrations of pure-petrol and mild-hybrid cars dropped by 22% to 58,733 – a watershed moment, as their market share dipped just below half of all new car sales.
Meanwhile, regular hybrid car sales fell by 2.9% to 16,586. Diesel continued its protracted slump, falling by 26.2% to 6381 cars.
Fleets continued to account for the majority of new car registrations but fell by 11.9% year on year to 71,520. The retail market suffered a smaller dip of 7.9% to 46,490.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which published the data, attributed the dip in sales to the later timing of the Easter bank holiday, meaning there were fewer actual days in which to sell cars this April.
It added that April’s changes to Vehicle Excise Duty – now applied to EVs for the first time – incentivised buyers to complete purchases in March.
“April’s performance is disappointing but expected after March’s surge,” said SMMT chief Mike Hawes.
The UK’s best-selling car in April was the Kia Sportage, with 3514 registrations, followed by the Ford Puma with 3311 and the Vauxhall Corsa with 2376.
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