UK records best October for new car sales since 2019

The UK’s new car market last month recorded its strongest October since the Covid pandemic, as 153,529 models left showrooms.

This represents a 14.3% increase on the figures recorded in the same month in 2022, according to figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), and a 7.2% rise compared with October 2019.

For reference, 153,599 new cars were sold in the UK during October 2018.

The most popular powertrain choice continued to be petrol (including mild hybrids), with 84,451 sales, followed by electric (23,943) and parallel hybrid (19,574).

Electrified vehicles – parallel hybrids (HEVs), plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs) – accounted for 37.6% of all new-car registrations, said the SMMT.

The rate of growth of EV sales has slowed dramatically. Between October 2021 and October 2022, their market share rose by 5.1%, from 9.5% to 14.6%. Over the following year, this has increased by just 1.7%, to 16.3%.

The SMMT has warned that greater financial incentives are needed to shore up EV sales to private buyers, as they have accounted for fewer than one in four purchases of the powertrain so far this year.

For reference, private buyers have accounted for 44.4% of the overall new-car market in 2023 to date, compared with 53.2% of sales to fleets.

The SMMT also noted that a regional disparity in public charger installations could be harming sales. It claimed that London and the south-east of England received 80% of the 4753 new chargers installed in the UK between July and September, despite accounting for 40% of plug-in car sales over that period.

In turn, it has downgraded its outlook for this year’s EV sales by 1.7%, projecting 324,000 – with a 17.2% market share – by the end of 2023. As for 2024, the SMMT expects 439,000 EV registrations and a 22.3% market share.