June saw a significant boost to the UK car market, with new registrations climbing to their highest levels since 2019.
For people investment planning in Cheshire’s automotive sector, the nationwide picture showed a 6.7% increase in sales, with 191,316 new vehicles delivered.
While some traditional household name brands struggled, the electric vehicle (EV) market was the big winner, with demand up 39.1% for zero emission (ZEV) cars. Plug-in hybrid sales were up 28.8%, while new petrol registrations fell 4.2% and diesel sales were flat.
According to figures published by the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders, a quarter of all new cars were electric.
Some analysts have cautioned that demand is being driven by fleet orders rather than private consumers; but, nevertheless, there are still reasons to be optimistic of a consumer uptick later in the year. The industry is inching towards meeting the stated government ZEV targets.
The UK has started to embrace Chinese car brands, with companies such as BYD recording sales up 570% in barely a year, followed by their compatriots Omoda and Jaecoo. Geely Auto, the owners of Polestar, and iconic European brands such as Lotus and Volvo, are also poised to enter the British market in their own right.
The popularity of Chinese vehicles is being attributed to the competitive rates offered by their well-specced EV and hybrid models. According to The Car Expert editorial director, Stuart Masson, the rise of the Chinese is the ’biggest story of the year’.
