New car registrations were down 5% year on year in July, with battery electric vehicles (BEV) bucking the trend to grow 9.1% yoy to reach 21.3% market share in the month. That is according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The July data shows decreasing demand from private (-3.2%) and fleet (-6.5%) buyers, with the SMMT citing external factors and “a lack of governmental purchase and charging incentives, combined with fiscal disincentives” as contributing factors to the decline.
Growth in July was seen in BEVs (up 9.1%) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (up 33.0%), taking their combined share to over a third of the new market. Registrations of new petrol cars were down 14.7% vs July 2024, meaning that petrol models represent less than half of new vehicles registered so far in 2025.
