According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association demand for alternatively fuelled vehicles in the UK has risen 62.4%, which is the biggest increase in any EU country for that time period. A rise in demand was also experienced in France and Spain, where growth in the market was at 59.7% and 58% respectively. In the EU and EFTA region France remains the largest market for hybrid vehicles. The UK is now the second largest market in Europe for EVs and PHEVs, with France and Germany in third and fourth place respectively.
Moreover, registrations in the new car market were up 3.2% in July with almost 180,000 vehicles registered, compared with the same period last year, which takes the total number of vehicles sold so far in 2015 to 1.5 million, and marks the 41st consecutive month of growth for the UK’s new car market in the UK. The categories that seem to be the best selling include superminis and SUVs. Company cars sales were reportedly the strongest for the month of July, with registration up 6.4% on July 2014, which means that it contributed to 52.9% of the UK new car market. The new car industry has been growing steadily since 2012. The rate of which the new car market is growing at is steadily slowing though, and the SMMT has reported that this may indicate a slowdown in growth for the second half of 2015.
It is predicted that for the new car market, this year will come just below the all-time sales record of 2.58m vehicles set in 2003, with 2.56m cars anticipated to be sold by the end of 2015.
Image c/o Loco Steve
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