Whilst we often focus on writing about classic cars, we thought you may find it of interest to hear what sort of year the new car sales market had in 2024 in the UK when compared with 2023. On a monthly basis, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) publish such data.

In 2023 the number of new cars registered here in the UK totalled 1,903,054. In 2024 the number of new car registrations in the UK totalled 1,952,778. That amounts to an increase of 2.6%.

It probably may not come as too much of a surprise to read that the number of new diesel fuelled cars sold in the UK fell by 13.6% in 2024 in compared to the previous year. The number of new petrol fuelled cars sold in the UK dropped by 4.45 when compared with 2023. However, there was a sizeable rise in the number of new electric vehicles registered in the UK when comparing 2024 with 2023 but this was probably only to be expected.

The top 3 selling new cars in the UK in 2024 were: –

1. Ford Puma     48,340
2. Kia Sportage     47,163
3. Nissan Qashqai     42,418

The motor trade sector has gone through difficult times during COVID 19 and beyond so it is great to see that the number of new cars being sold in the UK rose in 2024 in comparison to the previous year. Let us hope that we continue to see an increasing trend in this respect.

The new car market no doubt employs an awful lot of people so, in the current economic climate, it would be good if it was able to retain the number of employees within it unlike some sectors where cuts in staffing levels has been witnessed in recent months. The new car sales market will be hoping that the numbers of new electric cars sold continues to go up. After all, anything that can be done to lower carbon emissions has got to be welcomed.