It was a rare month of growth for private new car sales in February, although a drop in fleet registrations meant that the overall new car market was down slightly.
According to registration data published this morning by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), private new car sales were up by 5% compared to the same month last year. It was the best February result since the Covid pandemic, although numbers are still well down on pre-pandemic sales levels.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that February is one of the two slowest months of the year (along with August) for new car sales, as it comes directly before the new number plate month of March, which is generally the biggest month of the year. As a result, small variations have a bigger relative impact in percentage terms and we often see unusual results.
(Also, apologies for the awful new fonts on the tables that are difficult to read on mobile devices and small screens – that’s not our fault, they’re provided by the SMMT.)
EV sales continue to boom
Following on from a strong start to the year in January (up 42%), EV sales were up by 42% again in February. A quarter of all new car registrations were electric, which sets the UK car industry on track for hitting its 2025 zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate.
Registrations for plug-in hybrids and basic hybrids also increased by 19% and 8%, respectively, while petrol sales fell by 47% and diesel was down by 15%. Combined, petrol and diesel cars held about 52% of the total market, while ‘electrified’ cars (EVs, plug-in hybrids and basic hybrids) took 48%. This suggests that we’re not far from the next big milestone in the transition from fossil fuels to electricity, when combined electrified car sales outperform combined non-electrified car sales.
Good month, bad month
While the overall market was pretty flat (down 1% on last February), there was plenty of movement within that big picture. February often throws up unusual data because numbers are low, but some brands held up better than others.
It was a good month for Bentley, BYD, Cupra, Genesis, Hyundai, Jeep, Land Rover, Lexus, Mazda, Mini, Peugeot, Polestar, Porsche, Renault, Subaru, Tesla and Volvo. All of these brands outperformed the overall market by at least 10% (so sales grew by at least 9% compared to last February)
Meanwhile, things were not so good for Abarth, Alpine, Audi, BMW, Citroën, Dacia, DS Automobiles, Fiat, Ford, GWM, Honda, Ineos, Jaguar, KGM, Maserati, SEAT, Smart, Suzuki and Vauxhall. All of these brands underachieved against the overall market by at least 10%.
That means that the following brands were about where we’d expect them to be: Alfa Romeo, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, MG, Nissan, Skoda, Toyota and Volkswagen. All of these brands had sales within 10% (plus or minus) of the overall market result.
In actual sales numbers, Mini had the largest growth – up more than 1,600 on the same month last year. Ford, once again, was the biggest loser, with registrations down more than 1,400 units on the same month last year.
Volkswagen was the best-selling brand in February, ahead of BMW, Ford, Peugeot and Kia.
However, all of the above should be taken with a grain of salt as March’s sales numbers will dwarf those of February.
Mini Cooper tops the charts
The new Mini Cooper hatchback was the UK’s best-selling new car in February, ahead of Tesla’s Model 3 saloon and Model Y crossover.
Again, sales numbers in February are tiny compared to March so don’t read too much into the best-sellers’ list. Year-to-date, the Kia Sportage holds a narrow lead over the Nissan Qashqai, but the top ten could all turn around in March. Come back in early April to see how things are really unfolding in 2025 new car sales…
