UK New Car Market Grows for an 11th Month as EVs Reach 32%

Electric and plug-in cars carried the growth

The increase came almost entirely from plug-in models. Battery electric registrations climbed 32.7% to 48,858, and plug-in hybrids rose 30.1% to 22,898 for a 15% share. Conventional hybrids slipped 5% to 18,287. Petrol registrations fell 11.6% to 56,876 and diesel dropped 15.9% to 5,811, so cars with some form of electrification accounted for 59% of the month. Fleets registered 89,985 cars (+5.4%), private buyers 58,229 (+4.1%) and small businesses 4,516 (+24.5%).

The best-selling cars in October

The Jaecoo 7 plug-in hybrid SUV led with 3,412 registrations, narrowly ahead of the Ford Puma on 3,369. The Volkswagen Golf (2,642), Mini Countryman (2,480) and Kia Sportage (2,438) completed the top five, followed by the Mini Cooper, Nissan Qashqai, MG HS, Audi A3 and Jaecoo 5. Omoda and Jaecoo together took 6.1% of the market, Motoring Research reported.

The electric chart looked different. The Skoda Enyaq topped it with 1,568 units, ahead of the electric Mini Countryman (1,494) and Jaecoo 5 (1,465). The Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, first and second among EVs in September, dropped out of the October top ten.

Across the first ten months of 2026 the Ford Puma remains the UK's most registered car with 46,295 units, 3,369 ahead of the Jaecoo 7 on 42,885.

Still short of the ZEV mandate

Strong as October was, the year-to-date electric share of 26.6% (503,805 cars, up 30.4%) sits well below the 33% that the ZEV mandate requires in 2026. The SMMT forecasts a 27.2% share for the full year, 32% in 2027 and 37.5% in 2028, when the target rises to 52%. That would leave a gap of 14.5 percentage points. SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said that "higher targets may force supply, but they do not create demand", and the trade body repeated its call for a review of the mandate.

What it means for buyers

Manufacturers chasing the mandate keep discounting electric cars heavily, so UK buyers can expect strong EV deals to continue through the end of 2026. Chinese brands are a growing part of that choice, and more of the latest market data sits in the car news section.