The United Kingdom reported new passenger car registrations in June hit a 26% year-on-year growth to 177,266 units. That figure ultimately raised the year-to-date registrations by 18% YoY to 949,720 units.
The plug-in segment also enjoyed an upward trend in the UK automotive market, with record-breaking registrations in the sixth month of the year.
Plug-in electric car registrations in the UK – June 2023
New plug-in car registrations saw a YoY growth of 46% to 44,470 units last month, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Remarkably, that figure indicates a market share increase from just 21.6% in 2022 to approximately 25.1% this year.
Impressively, both battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles recorded YoY growths, which may persist until the second half of 2023.
Plug-in electric car registrations in the UK – YTD
The British market’s year-to-date new passenger plug-in electric car registrations are now at over 215,000, up 29% YoY. This figure also represents 22.7% of the overall volume.
New plug-in car registrations year-to-date:
| Registrations | Change YoY | Market Share | |
| BEVs | 152,965 | up 33% | 16.1% |
| PHEVs | 62,155 | up 21% | 6.5% |
| Total | 215,120 | up 29% | 22.7% |
In retrospect, new passenger plug-in car registrations were just over 368,000 in FY 2022, accounting for 22.8% of the market.
Top-selling models – June 2023
Unsurprisingly, Tesla’s famous electric SUV Model Y has once again dominated the UK market with 5,539 registrations. This strong June performance enabled the model to advance from seventh to fourth in the YTD ranking, with 19,551 units.
Unfortunately, there were no other solo BEV models to place among the top 10 rankings.
As you can see in the photo attached to the Tweet below, the iconic Ford Puma trails behind the Tesla Model Y by a minimal margin with 5,453 sales.
Light commercial vehicle registrations in the UK – June 2023
The UK reported 34,630 new light commercial vehicle registrations in June, indicating a YoY growth of 31%.
Of that total, BEVs contributed 1,775 units, noting a 12% decline from the same period last year. This figure captured 5.1% of the market.
That said, LCV’s shift to an electric powertrain seems to lag behind passenger cars in the UK, which may be partly due to the lack of charging infrastructures and the expense of initial costs for electric van models.
See Also:
- UK: Battery electric vehicles held 16.9% of the UK auto market in May
- UK’s new car market records ninth consecutive month of growth
- UK: Plug-in car sales consistently increased in February 2023
- UK: Plug-in car sales grew 12% in January 2023
- UK new vehicle sales drop to a 30-year low, but EV demand increases
The growth of all-electric vehicle sales and registrations in the UK’s passenger car segment reflects the country’s commitment to establishing a sustainable transportation sector. This significant development apparently enabled the UK to witness CO2 reductions by -2.8%.
Hopefully, the upward trend will continue in the quarters to come.
