New car registrations in the UK fell 6% year-on-year to 144,288 in October this year, the second decline this year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), Reuters reported recently.The SMMT said registrations for all power types, except for purely electric vehicles, fell in the month.
This October, a number of new pure electric models drove the strongest growth so far this year, with pure electric car sales achieving a record increase of 24.5% and taking a 20.7% share of the car market for the month.
So far this year, sales of pure electric vehicles in the UK have reached almost 300,000, representing 18.1% of the total car market share, up from 16.3% last year, although still short of the target set by the UK government (22%).
In the UK government’s first budget, announced in October, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves increased incentives for new zero-emission vehicles and supported the take-up of new electric vehicles.
In a statement, the SMMT said, “While the UK government’s budget extends the incentives for purely electric vehicles for existing businesses and fleets, adjustments to Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) and Company Car Tax (CCT) work against the purchase of low-carbon vehicles and fleet renewal, which may slow down the process of reducing the total amount of carbon emitted from road transport.”
Mike Hawes, head of the SMMT, said, “Fleet renewal across the UK market remains the fastest way to decarbonize, so a reduction in overall vehicle sales is not good news for the economy, investment or the environment.” The SMMT said the overall decline in UK car sales in October amounted to a loss of £350 million ($454.2 million) in turnover.