Demand from private buyers for diesel cars was more than for EVs in September, leading industry bosses to renew calls for urgent government support amid “serious concerns” that a waning electric car market “is putting environmental ambitions at risk”.
During the month, private diesel sales increased 17.1% compared with September 2023 – a volume uplift of 1367 cars – which was in contrast to the powertrain’s 7% year-on-year sales drop.
Private EV demand also rose – driven by “unprecedented” mandate-chasing manufacturer discounting – albeit by only 3.6%, equivalent to just 410 additional registrations.
This rise comes despite a record month for EV sales, which increased 36.8% year on year to 56,387 sales – 76% of which were made by fleets.
“September’s record EV performance is good news, but look under the bonnet and there are serious concerns as the market is not growing quickly enough to meet mandated targets,” said Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) boss Mike Hawes.
Those mandated targets reference the UK government’s new emissions regulations that will heavily fine car makers if they fail to meet a 22% EV sales mix – a figure that will rise each year.
Hawes added: “Despite manufacturers spending billions on both product and market support – support that the industry cannot sustain indefinitely – market weakness is putting environmental ambitions at risk and jeopardising future investment.
“While we appreciate the pressures on the public purse, the chancellor must use the forthcoming Budget to introduce bold measures on consumer support and infrastructure to get the transition back on track, and with it the economic growth and environmental benefits we all crave.”
Ahead of new chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget later this month, the SMMT and “12 major manufacturers” have called for: temporarily halving VAT on new EV purchases; scrapping the VED ‘expensive car’ tax supplement for EVs; equalising VAT on public charging to match the 5% home-charging rate; and maintaining and extending business incentives.
Overall, the UK new car market bounced back following a lacklustre August, recording the best figure for a September in post-Covid Britain.
In what is always a bumper month for the market, given the arrival of new registration plates (now ’74’), 275,239 cars were sold, according to SMMT figures.
This represents a slight rise (1%) on 2023’s 272,610, but is still 20% down on pre-Covid 2019.
So far this year, 1,514,094 cars have been sold, up 4.3% on the same point in 2023.
