In total, 1.95 million new cars were registered in 2024, the second consecutive year of growth for the market. However, 1.16 million of those – or six out of every ten – went to fleets, while private sales fell by almost 9 per cent.
Petrol remains the preferred choice among Brits, by some margin, as it accounted for more than 52 per cent of the total market share, followed by electric cars, then full hybrids at 13.4 per cent and plug-in hybrids at 8.6 per cent. Diesels now make up only 6.3 per cent of new sales.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes cites the greater selection of electric cars as one reason for their increased market share, with 133 different models now in showrooms. The appeal has been enhanced further by an estimated £4 billion of discounts from manufacturers, which Hawes acknowledges makes right now “a bloody good time to buy a BEV because incentives are at record levels”. However, these, he believes, are “unsustainable”.
And despite the industry’s best efforts, as a whole EV sales fell short of the 22 per cent target set by the Government as part of its ZEV Mandate. Perhaps even more alarmingly, the target rises to 28 per cent this year, yet the SMMT is already forecasting BEVs will only represent about 24 per cent of total sales in 2025. Hawes said: “How expensive will it be to deliver 24 per cent or 25 per cent in the absence of incentives?”
The Government has launched a consultation into the ZEV Mandate, but any changes to the policy are unlikely to come imminently. Ultimately, Hawes told us that he expects there to be pressure on manufacturers “throughout the year”.
He explained: “They’ll have new models and that should sustain part of their growth this year. But really it is a particularly acute situation, which is why when we had a round table with the Secretaries of State for Business and Transport, as well as other ministers, a couple of months ago, all the manufacturers were asking for a review of the mandate.
“Even those manufacturers who will comply with the mandate this year said they need a review because the cost of compliance is unsustainable.”
Britain’s top-selling cars 2024 (based on preliminary data)
- Ford Puma – 48,340
- Kia Sportage – 47,163
- Nissan Qashqai – 42,418
- Nissan Juke – 34,454
- Tesla Model Y – 32,862
- Volkswagen Golf – 32,370
- Hyundai Tucson – 32,174
- MG HS – 30,207
- Volvo XC40 – 30,202
- Volkswagen Polo – 28,981
