New vehicle registrations in the U.K. rose 7.2% year-on-year in February but recorded the second consecutive month of a decline in electric vehicle market share.
Overall registrations in February grew to 90,100 units for the month, the highest since February 2004, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders in a March 5 report. EV registrations rose by just 2.8% to 21,840 units, representing 24.2% of the market, down from 25.3% reported in February 2025,
Year-to-date EV market share in the U.K. stands at 22.0%, just two-thirds of the 33% share mandated for the end of this year, making March a pivotal month, said the SMMT.
However, the U.K.’s industry representative stressed the EV dip in market share partly reflects a strong start to 2025, when buyers sought to avoid April’s introduction of new tax rates and after a sales push at the end of last year to comply with the nation’s Zero Emission Vehicle mandate.
“All eyes are now on ‘new plate’ March, which typically sets the tone for the year — and given sales of new pure petrol and diesel cars are currently required to end in less than four years, EV uptake must accelerate rapidly,” said SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes. “Manufacturers have committed monumental investment to drive demand, but such costs cannot be sustained indefinitely, making a review of the transition an urgent priority to ensure ambition matches natural demand.”
Demand was driven by recovering private retail registrations, up 17.6% to 35,227 units, while fleet uptake grew by 1.8% and the lower-volume business segment fell by 12.7%.
Fleets remained the largest source of new car registrations, accounting for 59.4% of the market.
Plug-in hybrids saw the largest growth in demand, up 43.5% to claim an 11.6% market share, while hybrid registrations rose 3.3% to a 13.1% share.
Gasoline-powered vehicle registrations also grew by 5.2%, but market share slipped to 46.5%, while diesel volumes continued to decline, down 3.8% to just 4.5% of the market.
