Latest UK new registrations at Full Year 2025
- The UK new car market grew for the third year in a row in 2025, breaching the two million mark for the first time since the pandemic, with 2,020,520 new car registrations, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
- Uptake in December rose by 3.9% to 146,249 units, with a final flourish in the private buyer market, up by 16.0%. Repeating a pattern seen in previous years,2battery electric vehicle (BEV) registrations took a high market share in the final month of the year, accounting for 32.2% of the market – the only time the ZEV mandate target of 28% was exceeded in 2025.
- Almost half a million (473,348) new BEVs were registered during 2025 – more than in the whole of 2021 and 2022 combined. This huge volume, which is likely to place the UK as the second biggest EV market in Europe by volume, saw BEV market share rise to reach 23.4% – a strong uplift, but with a mandate target of 28% the gap between demand and ambition is increasing rather than diminishing.
“The new car market finally reaching two million registrations for the first time this decade is a reasonably solid result amid tough economic and geopolitical headwinds. Rising EV uptake is an undoubted positive, but the pace is still too slow and the cost to industry too high. The government has stepped in with the Electric Car Grant, but a new EV tax, additional charges for EV drivers in London and costly public charging send mixed signals. Given developments abroad, the government should bring forward its review and act urgently to deliver a vibrant market, a sustainable industry and an investment proposition that keeps the UK at the forefront of global competition”
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive
Statistics and commentary from SMMT
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