New Car Sales in 2023 the highest since Covid – but EV sales stay flat

New car registrations in the UK rose 17.9 per cent to 1,903,000 in 2023 – the highest since 2019 – entirely due to fleet sales.

As the world gets back to some sort of normality post-Covid, and supply chain issues become manageable, car sales in the UK have risen throughout 2023 to 1,903,000 – up by 17.9 per cent on 2022.

This is good news for the industry, although the increase is entirely down to fleet sales – up by 38.7 per cent to 1.1 million – with sales to private buyers, without the business tax breaks and hit by the cost of living crisis, were almost exactly the same as in 2022 at 818,000.

Sales of electric cars continued to rise – to 315,000 – although the market share for EVs actually fell slightly, and the vast majority of EV sales were to fleet and business buyers, as private buyers remain sceptical about EVs.

Market share for PHEVs (7.4 per cent) and HEVs (12.6 per cent) also rose, and although market share for petrol cars fell by 1.6 per cent they still accounted for 40.7 per cent of all cars registered.

The top seller in 2023 gong fell to the Ford Puma, followed by the Nissan Qashqai, Vauxhall Corsa, Kia Sportage and Tesla Model Y, with the best-selling EV the Tesla Model Y followed by the MG4, Audi Q4 e-tron, Tesla Model 3 and Polestar 2.

Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said:

With vehicle supply challenges fading, the new car market is building back with the best year since the pandemic. Energised by fleet investment, particularly in the latest EVs, the challenge for 2024 is to deliver a green recovery. Government has challenged the UK automotive sector with the world’s boldest transition timeline and is investing to ensure we are a major maker of electric vehicles. It must now help all drivers buy into this future, with consumer incentives that will make the UK the leading European market for ZEVs.