Surging electric vehicle sales drove a 1.6% growth in new car registrations in May, according to the latest data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
It reported that sales rose to 150,070 units, making it the best May performance since 2021 but still 18.3% down on pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
Fleets and businesses drove the growth, up 3.7% and 14.4% respectively, to account for 62.6% of registrations, while private sales fell 2.3%.
Petrol and diesel sales fell 12.5% and 15.5% respectively, while sales of electrified models surged to account for a combined 47.3% market share.
Uptake of hybrid electric vehicles grew by 6.8% to 20,351 units, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles were up 50.8% to 17,898, while registrations of battery electric vehicles rose by 25.8% to claim a 21.8% share of the market.
However, EV registrations year-to-date have only reached 20.9% market share compared to the 28% mandated by regulation.
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said:
“A return to growth for new car registrations in May is welcome but manufacturer discounting on new products continues to underpin the market, notably for electric vehicles. This cannot be sustained indefinitely as it undermines the ability of companies to invest in new product development – investments which are integral to the decarbonisation of all road transport.
“Next week’s Spending Review is the opportunity for government to double down on its commitments to Net Zero by driving demand through fiscal measures that boost the market and shore up our competitiveness.”
