New car sales in Britain rose for the 11th month in a row in October, with electric vehicles doing almost all of the running, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
The new car market grew 5.4 per cent to 152,730 registrations. Fleet registrations rose 5.4 per cent to 89,985 units, private demand increased 4.1 per cent to 58,229, and business registrations climbed 24.5 per cent to 4,516.
Electric cars take a third of the market
Battery-electric vehicle deliveries increased by 32.7 per cent to secure a 32.0 per cent market share, their highest share this year, the SMMT said. Plug-in hybrid registrations rose 30.1 per cent to a 15.0 per cent share, meaning electrified cars accounted for almost six in ten registrations.
Separate figures from New AutoMotive put the electric surge even higher, recording 49,155 new battery electrics in October, up 53.7 per cent on October 2025, and a 31.8 per cent share that made electric the most popular fuel type of the month.
Half a million electrics this year
More than half a million battery electrics, 503,805, have been registered so far this year, up 30.4 per cent on a year ago. “Almost one in three new cars sold in October was fully electric, more than any other fuel type,” the SMMT’s chief executive Mike Hawes said, while warning the transition was coming “at enormous cost” to manufacturers. The SMMT now expects electrics to make up 27.2 per cent of new car sales this year, against a 33 per cent zero-emission mandate target.
The mandate gap
The SMMT now expects electrics to make up 27.2 per cent of new car sales this year, against a 33 per cent zero-emission mandate target, a gap that puts pressure on manufacturers and could mean sharper discounts for buyers. Fleet buyers are driving the shift, with fleet registrations far outpacing private demand, and the used electric market is growing as early lease cars return to forecourts. For private buyers, the message is to compare total running costs rather than the sticker price alone: electricity, insurance and servicing differ sharply between models. Charging at home remains far cheaper than public rapid charging. With five consecutive months of electrics at around a third of sales, the transition looks durable, but the pace for private buyers will depend on prices, charging and confidence.
