January’s new-car market saw plug-in hybrids become the flavour of the month, with a 47.3% increase in registrations compared to the start of 2025. EV sales were almost static, with just 20 more sold compared to the start of last year, equivalent to a 0.1% rise.
Some 18,557 PHEVs found new homes in January, and while around 11,000 more electric cars were registered, when combined with traditional, plugless hybrids, which was up 4.8%, the market for petrol/diesel-electric vehicles far outweighs the pure-EV one, with 26.3% of buyers opting for the former, and 20.6% the latter.
On the subject of single-fuel powertrains, petrol continues to be the market’s preference, with the 68,757 cars running only on unleaded comprising 47.7% of last month’s market, down from 50.3% in the same month last year.
Diesel continues to decline in popularity for passenger cars with a 5.5% share of January’s market, which saw a total of 144,127 vehicles registered, up from 139,345 in January 2025, and the biggest start to the year since pre-pandemic 2020.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which compiled the data, ascribes near-stagnant electric-car registrations to a glut of sales in the yardstick month of January 2025, which the organisation says saw more shoppers chose battery-powered vehicles to escape the end of their road-tax exemption, which was removed in April last year.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes says while the new-car market is “decarbonising more rapidly than ever”, the speed of EV uptake “may be slowing”, a worrying sign for ministers who remain adamant that 33% of all new cars sold this year must by pure-electric, up from 2025’s target of 28%, which was missed by a significant margin despite an endless stream of manufacturer and government incentives.
