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Registrations of new cars in the UK fell in November, but the uptake of electric vehicles rose ahead of the government budget announcement, which included a ’pence per mile’ tax on electric vehicles. The UK new car market declined by 1.6% on-year in November to 151,154 from 153,610, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders on Thursday. Registrations of battery electric vehicles climbed by 3.6% to 39,965 from 38,581, but diesel vehicles fell by 24% to 7,168 from 9,434 and petrol vehicles by 5.9% to 66,180 from 70,317. As a result, the market share of battery electric vehicles increased to 26.4% in November from 25.1% a year ago. The increase in sales of fully electric cars was helped by the electric car grant put in place by the UK government earlier this year. However, counteracting this, the budget announcement last week introduced a 3 pence-per-mile tax on fully electric cars, starting from April 2028. The government noted that this was ‘around half of the 6 pence per mile the average petrol or diesel driver pays in fuel duty’. Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, 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 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.’ Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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