September is typically a very good month for new car sales, as buyers clamour to get something shiny outside the front door with the reg plate change. So it proved for the first month of 74-plated vehicles in the UK, with 275,239 registrations; that’s the best September since 2020, if some way off the 343,255 of September 2019. We didn’t know how good we had it…
As always, buried among the headline numbers are some interesting trends identified by the SMMT. The first of those, of course, is in the electric car market. September 2024 was actually a record month in the UK for BEVs, with 56,387 new registrations representing a leap of 24.4 per cent; the Year-To-Date figure of 269,931 is up on 2023’s figure of 238,544. Which looks good, but the trend is being driven overwhelmingly by fleet purchases, which accounted for 75.9 per cent of those sales. Furthermore, while private EV purchases were up, it was only by 3.6 per cent after what the SMMT calls ‘unprecedented manufacturer discounting’. Because the private new EV market currently remains so small, that meant only an additional 410 registrations. By contrast, while diesel sales were down overall (17,556 compared to 18,892 last year, down 7.1 per cent), private demand actually increased 17.1 per cent - or another 1,367 units.
The situation, with YTD private EV demand still down, has spurred the SMMT into action. Reckoning that manufacturers will spend at least £2bn on discounting EVs in 2024 (which plainly isn’t sustainable), it has written to the Chancellor - along with 12 manufacturers - recommending measures to up the pace of the EV transition. They include a temporary halving of VAT, reducing the cost of public charging and extending incentives.
In a press release, it suggests that previous ‘assumptions of a market delivering steady BEV growth, cheaper and plentiful raw materials, affordable energy and low interest rates have not come to fruition, with the upfront cost of BEV models remaining stubbornly high.’ (JATO data suggests £49,600 is the average new EV cost). With a changing car market and continued lack of confidence in public charging, despite recent improvements, it says drastic change is required. It feels notable that market share is still not at the 22 per cent ZEV mandate level required by each manufacturer for 2024 (it was 20.5 per cent for September) and which is only going to increase in the coming years.
Chief Executive Mike Hawes added: “September’s record EV performance is good news, but look under the bonnet and there are serious concerns as the market is not growing quickly enough to meet mandated targets. Despite manufacturers spending billions on both product and market support – support that the industry cannot sustain indefinitely – market weakness is putting environmental ambitions at risk and jeopardising future investment. While we appreciate the pressures on the public purse, the Chancellor must use the forthcoming Budget to introduce bold measures on consumer support and infrastructure to get the transition back on track, and with it the economic growth and environmental benefits we all crave.”
A pretty stark warning from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, then, that something has to change soon if a widespread transition to electric vehicles is to happen. Certainly the picture painted is pretty bleak, though the one upside of the current uncertainty is those discounts mentioned earlier. There’s almost £4k off this Corsa Electric, the best part of £15,000 off this 1,000-mile Ioniq 6, and similar again off this Audi Q8 e tron.
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