New car sales grew by 3.5% last year fuelled by surge in demand for EVs

Sales of new cars grew by about 3.5% last year amid a surge in demand for electric vehicles (EVs), new figures show.

Lobby group the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said 2.02 million new cars were registered in 2025.

That is compared with the total of 1.95 million during the previous 12 months, and represented the third consecutive year of growth.

Registrations of pure battery EVs were up 23.9% year-on-year to 473,340.

This was a market share of 23.4%, up from 19.6% in 2024.

The volume is expected to place the UK as the second largest EV market in Europe, behind Germany.

The Government’s zero-emission vehicle (Zev) mandate set a headline target for at least 28% of cars sold by each manufacturer in the UK last year to be zero-emission, which generally means pure battery electric.

But the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit think tank has estimated the actual sales requirement to avoid penalties was just 20.4%, as companies also get credits for selling large numbers of lower emission petrol and diesel cars.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “The new car market finally reaching two million registrations for the first time this decade is a reasonably solid result amid tough economic and geopolitical headwinds.

“Rising EV uptake is an undoubted positive, but the pace is still too slow and the cost to industry too high.

“Government has stepped in with the Electric Car Grant, but a new EV tax, additional charges for EV drivers in London and costly public charging send mixed signals.

“Given developments abroad, Government should bring forward its review and act urgently to deliver a vibrant market, a sustainable industry and an investment proposition that keeps the UK at the forefront of global competition.”

A review of the Zev mandate is scheduled to be published in early 2027.

The best selling cars overall last year were the Ford Puma and the Kia Sportage, while the most popular pure battery EV was Tesla’s Model Y.

All three are SUVs.

The market share of new petrol cars fell from 52.2% in 2024 to 46.4% last year, while diesels saw a decline from 6.3% to 5.1% over the same period.

Hybrids that cannot be plugged in – which combine a petrol engine and an electric motor powered by a battery – achieved a 13.9% share of the new car market, up from 13.4% in 2024.

The UK Government has pledged to outlaw sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, with only zero-emission models permitted from 2035.

Last month, the European Commission watered down its total ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035.

The new plan is for 90% of new cars sold from that date to be zero-emission.

The figures released by the SMMT are based on preliminary data.

Confirmed statistics will be published at 9am on Tuesday.

Published: 06/01/2026 by Radio NewsHub