New electric car market suffers smallest growth since December 2023

That was up 3.6% from November 2024, which was the smallest year-on-year increase since December 2023, when registrations declined by 34.2%.

That sharp fall was attributed to supply chain issues and a stronger than usual December 2022.

The overall new car market fell by 1.6% last month, with 151,154 new cars registered.

The SMMT said this sixth monthly fall in registrations this year was driven by a 5.5% decline in demand from private buyers.

Purchases for fleets owned or leased by businesses or other organisations edged up 0.2%.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “Even in a fragile market, zero emission vehicle uptake continues to rise, which is exactly what we need.

“But the weakest growth for almost two years – ahead of Government announcing a new tax on EVs (electric vehicles) – should be seen as a wake-up call that sustained increase in demand for EVs cannot be taken for granted.

“We should be taking every opportunity to encourage drivers to make the switch, not punishing them for doing so, else the ambitions of Government and industry will be thwarted.”

In last week’s Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that drivers of battery electric cars will be charged 3p per mile for electric Vehicle Excise Duty from April 2028.

This is in response to a huge reduction in revenue from fuel duty as more drivers switch from petrol or diesel cars to EVs.

Battery electric vehicles took a market share of 22.7% during the first 11 months of the year.

Under the Government’s zero-emission vehicle mandate, at least 28.0% of new cars sold by each manufacturer in the UK in 2025 are required to be zero emission, which generally means pure electric.

But green consultancy New Automotive said its analysis shows this year’s EV sales target is 21.7% once flexibilities are taken into account.