It is pleasing to hear that the number of new cars sold in the UK has gone up for the month of April 2024 in comparison to the same month last year. In fact that is the 21st month in a row that new car registrations have grown in the UK.
According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the number of new cars sold in April 2024 amounted to 134,274 compared to 132,990 of such vehicles sold in April 2023. That equates to an increase of 1% that may seem small but nevertheless a welcome performance.
It is interesting when you look at the figures in a little more detail. For instance, the volume of private new car sales in April 2024 amounted to 50,458 whereas in April 2023 the figure was 61,342. That is a fall of 17.7%. The number of new business cars sold in April of this year was 2,609 compared to 3,111 for the same month last year – a fall of 16.1%. Fortunately these falls were cancelled out by a big rise in the sale of new cars for the fleet car market with 81.207 being registered in April 2024 compared to 68,537 in April 2023 – a rise of 18.5%.
On a year to date basis to April 2024, there was a much larger percentage increase in relation to the sale of new cars in the UK. An additional 8.4% of new cars were registered when compared with the same period last year. Again it was the fleet market that propped up the sale of new cars with fleet car sales increasing from 321,817 on a year to date basis to April 2023 to 407,661 on a year to date basis to April 2024 – a rise of 26.7%. New private car sales dropped by 11.0% and new business car sales fell by 9.4%.
New electric vehicle sales did well in April 2024. For instance, new Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) sales increased by 10.7% with market share being 16.9% in April 2024. New Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) sales rose by 22.1% with market share being 7.8%. New Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) sales rose by 16.7% with market share being 13.1%. The new diesel car market share in April 2024 was down to 6.4% and the new petrol car market share dropped to 55.8%.
The top 5 selling new cars in the UK in April 2024 were: –
1. Ford Puma 4,339
2. Volkswagen Polo 3,413
3. Audi A3 3,010
4. Nissan Qashqai 2,495
5. Volkswagen Golf 2,361
We will continue to provide our readers with interesting information in respect of the new car market here in the UK.
