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The new car sales forecast for 2023 has been revised upwards by the SMMT with fleet recovery driving the market.
The SMMT said the latest market outlook has been revised upwards to reflect market growth higher than expected.
Overall new car registrations are anticipated to reach 1.886 million by the end of the year, a rise of 2.1% on July’s expectations.
However, expectations for BEV uptake have been downgraded again slightly, by -1.7% to 324,000 units resulting in an expected market share at year end of 17.2%.
The SMMT said that for 2024, the overall market outlook for 2024 is marginally more positive than previously anticipated, up 1% to 1.970 million units (a 4.4% rise on the 2023 outlook).
With an absence of consumer incentives and an overwhelming dependency on fleet registrations for growth, however, BEV market share outlook has been revised down slightly to an expected market share of 22.3%, despite registrations expected to reach 439,000 units, a 35.5% increase over 2023.
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said, “With demand for new cars surpassing pre-pandemic levels in the month, the market is defying expectations and driving growth.
As fleet uptake flourishes, particularly for EVs, sustained success depends on encouraging all consumers to invest in the latest zero emission vehicles.”
The latest sales figures from the SMMT saw October sales up 14% with fleet sales driving the market.