Electric and hybrid car sales jump to 10 per cent of UK total
Surge driven by tripling of sales of battery-powered vehicles
One in 10 new cars sold in the UK in October was a hybrid or electric vehicle, bolstered by sales of battery-powered cars tripling, latest figures show.
So-called alternatively fuelled vehicles accounted for 9.9 per cent of the market, up from 6.9 per cent in the same month a year earlier, as demand for green vehicles climbed against the backdrop of falling overall sales.
New car sales in Britain fell 6.7 per cent last month compared to October 2018, figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders released on Tuesday showed.
Sales over the first 10 months of the year were 2m, 2.9 per cent down on last year and the lowest level for the period since 2013.
“The UK car industry will surely look back at 2019 as one of its gloomiest on record,” said Alex Buttle, director at vehicle comparison site Motorway.co.uk. “It’s unlikely new car sales are going to pick up materially before the end of the year, with consumers also now having a general election to get their heads around.”
The rise in green sales in October was driven by hybrids, which climbed almost a third to 7,950 vehicles, a market share of 5.5 per cent.
Fully electric cars saw sales triple to 3,162, taking their market share in the month to 2.3 per cent.
Meanwhile diesel vehicles saw sales fall for the 31st straight month, dropping a third to 34,666, or a quarter of all sales.
During September, overall new sales rose by 1.3 per cent, an anomaly because of a steep dive a year earlier. But it was the lowest growth rate among major European markets such as Germany, France and Spain.
Lagging consumer confidence is being blamed for the persistent soft market.
“The growth in alternatively fuelled cars is very welcome, showing increasing buyer appetite for these new technologies,” said Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive. “The overall market remains tough, however, with October now the year’s eighth month of decline and in need of an injection of confidence.”
Ian Plummer, commercial director at online car marketplace Auto Trader, said: “Brexit is the driving force of this lack in confidence, with continued uncertainty around our exit from the EU. The upcoming general election will continue to cause further uncertainty around consumer purchase intentions.”
He added that the election, which is scheduled for December 12, was likely to have a relatively small impact on car sales because the last month of the year is traditionally a quieter period than the boom months of April and May.