5 August 2024

Highest market share for EVs as company car registrations rise by 21%

The fleet sector continues to drive the new car market, with fleet and business registrations increasing by over 21% year-on-year.

In the first half of the year, company cars made up 62% of the new car market, with 623,882 cars registered to fleet and business. This represents an increase of almost 110,000 cars compared to the first six months of 2023, when the market share was 54%, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Despite the robust performance of the fleet market, the retail new car market is struggling, with private registrations down 12% this year so far.

In June, private registrations decreased by more than 15%, while fleet and business registrations combined saw a 14.5% increase compared to June 2023.

A total of 111,638 new cars were registered to fleet and business in June, compared to 67,625 private registrations. Combined, the 179,263 units represented a modest 1.1% increase over June 2023’s performance.

The rising popularity of company cars helped the UK new car market surpass the half-year million mark for the first time in five years. So far in 2024, 1,006,763 new cars have been registered, up 6% from the previous year but still down 20.7% from the pre-pandemic figures of 2019.