New car registrations UP by 2.5% in July – but private sales DROP 11.1%

New car registrations in July 2024 rose by 2.5% making two years of growth. But private sales drop by 11.1%.

Over the last two years, sales of new cars have continued to rise as supply chains return to some sense of normality, and July 2024 was no different.

July saw new car registrations rise for two years in a row – by a modest 2.5% – with 147,517 new cars hitting the road and marking the best July for car sales since 2020 when lockdown eased and car showrooms re-opened to mop up pent-up demand.

But, also as we’ve got used to, the sales growth was driven entirely by fleet sales which rose by 13% and took a 62.0% share of the market, with private sales dropping by 11.1% for a modest 36.2% share.

SMMT points out that the rise of salary sacrifice schemes for employees impacts these e numbers, but as far as we can tell they account for less than 4.0% of registrations.

As you’d expect, sales of electrified cars (Hybrid, PHEV and BEV) rose again, with HEVs up by 31.4%, PHEVs by 12.4% and BEVs by 18.8%, although sales of BEVs to private buyers accounted for just 17.2%, and with total BEV registrations accounting for 18.8% of the market car makers are going to struggle to meet the 22% required to avoid fines.

Mike Hawes, SMMT boss, said:

Weakening private retail demand, particularly for EVs and despite generous manufacturer discounts, is the over-riding concern. More people than ever are buying and driving EVs but we still need the pace of change to quicken, else the UK’s climate change ambitions are threatened and manufacturers’ ability to hit regulated EV targets are at risk.