May was a bruising month for a raft of car brands in the UK with double digit sales declines.
Polestar saw registrations fall -69.6% to 314 units for the month while Fiat saw sales decline -44.9% to 523 units. Bentley was down -37.6% to 68 units and Vauxhall -32.1% to 6,026 units.
Toyota fell -17.9% to 6,834 units, Ford -31.4% to 7,520 and Porsche -31.5% to 1,315 units.
At the other end of the table Chinese brands showed big improvements from low bases with BYD showing the biggest improvement to reach 596 units followed by GWM Ora, selling 101 units.
SEAT saw sales up 81% to 3,572 units for the month while Renault delivered a 59.3% increase in sales to hit 3,798 units.
Land Rover rose 39.5% to reach 4,730 units for the month. Mercedes-Benz saw sales rise 33.4% to 7,758 units, followed by BMW, which was up 29% to 10,353 units.
Carmakers and dealers continue to grapple with the ZEV Mandate with zero emission BEV market share hitting 17.6%, well adrift of the 22% mandated by the government.
Mike Hawes, SMMT CEO, said, “As Britain prepares for next month’s general election, the new car market continues to hold steady as large fleets sustain growth, offsetting weakened private retail demand.
“Consumers enjoy a plethora of new electric models and some very attractive offers, but manufacturers can’t sustain this scale of support on their own indefinitely. Their success so far should be a signpost for the next government that a faster and fairer transition requires carrots, not just sticks.”
MAY | % Change | ||||
MARQUE | 2024 | % Market share | 2023 | % Market share | |
BYD | 596 | 0.40 | 21 | 0.01 | 2,738.10 |
smart | 148 | 0.10 | 16 | 0.01 | 825.00 |
GWM Ora | 101 | 0.07 | 33 | 0.02 | 206.06 |
Jeep | 297 | 0.20 | 98 | 0.07 | 203.06 |
Alfa Romeo | 234 | 0.16 | 111 | 0.08 | 110.81 |
SEAT | 3,572 | 2.42 | 1,973 | 1.36 | 81.04 |
Renault | 3,798 | 2.57 | 2,385 | 1.64 | 59.25 |
Other Imports | 216 | 0.15 | 137 | 0.09 | 57.66 |
Land Rover | 4,730 | 3.20 | 3,391 | 2.34 | 39.49 |
Subaru | 182 | 0.12 | 134 | 0.09 | 35.82 |
Mercedes-Benz | 7,758 | 5.25 | 5,816 | 4.01 | 33.39 |
BMW | 10,353 | 7.01 | 8,025 | 5.53 | 29.01 |
Cupra | 2,289 | 1.55 | 1,908 | 1.31 | 19.97 |
Honda | 1,781 | 1.21 | 1,505 | 1.04 | 18.34 |
Volvo | 5,707 | 3.86 | 4,835 | 3.33 | 18.04 |
Skoda | 6,671 | 4.52 | 5,720 | 3.94 | 16.63 |
Volkswagen | 13,503 | 9.14 | 11,687 | 8.05 | 15.54 |
MG | 7,223 | 4.89 | 6,304 | 4.34 | 14.58 |
Suzuki | 2,032 | 1.38 | 1,878 | 1.29 | 8.20 |
Dacia | 2,691 | 1.82 | 2,540 | 1.75 | 5.94 |
Nissan | 6,602 | 4.47 | 6,484 | 4.47 | 1.82 |
Total | 147,678 | 145,204 | 1.70 | ||
Jaguar | 1,363 | 0.92 | 1,341 | 0.92 | 1.64 |
CHEVROLET | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
Fisker | 44 | 0.03 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
KGM | 131 | 0.09 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
Ssangyong | 0 | 0.00 | 125 | 0.09 | 0.00 |
Kia | 8,917 | 6.04 | 8,976 | 6.18 | -0.66 |
Hyundai | 7,107 | 4.81 | 7,260 | 5.00 | -2.11 |
Mazda | 2,171 | 1.47 | 2,277 | 1.57 | -4.66 |
Citroen | 2,100 | 1.42 | 2,205 | 1.52 | -4.76 |
Lexus | 1,340 | 0.91 | 1,459 | 1.00 | -8.16 |
Tesla | 3,152 | 2.13 | 3,439 | 2.37 | -8.35 |
Audi | 10,673 | 7.23 | 11,808 | 8.13 | -9.61 |
Peugeot | 4,504 | 3.05 | 5,171 | 3.56 | -12.90 |
MINI | 2,679 | 1.81 | 3,099 | 2.13 | -13.55 |
Toyota | 6,834 | 4.63 | 8,325 | 5.73 | -17.91 |
Other British | 179 | 0.12 | 223 | 0.15 | -19.73 |
Ford | 7,520 | 5.09 | 10,970 | 7.55 | -31.45 |
Porsche | 1,315 | 0.89 | 1,920 | 1.32 | -31.51 |
Vauxhall | 6,026 | 4.08 | 8,879 | 6.11 | -32.13 |
Bentley | 68 | 0.05 | 109 | 0.08 | -37.61 |
Fiat | 523 | 0.35 | 950 | 0.65 | -44.95 |
Genesis | 57 | 0.04 | 104 | 0.07 | -45.19 |
Alpine | 19 | 0.01 | 35 | 0.02 | -45.71 |
Maserati | 40 | 0.03 | 75 | 0.05 | -46.67 |
Maxus | 1 | 0.00 | 3 | 0.00 | -66.67 |
Polestar | 314 | 0.21 | 1,034 | 0.71 | -69.63 |
DS | 54 | 0.04 | 199 | 0.14 | -72.86 |
Ineos | 25 | 0.02 | 182 | 0.13 | -86.26 |