Electric cars drive October sales growth as petrol demand declines

New car sales rose by 5% in October, with electric and plug-in hybrid cars accounting for almost half of all registrations.

The UK new car market recorded its eleventh consecutive month of growth in October, although the increase was more modest than in recent months.

According to data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), 152,730 new cars were registered during October, an increase of 5% compared with the same month last year. That follows a particularly strong September, when registrations reached their highest level for nine years.

Growth was recorded across all sales types, with fleet registrations up 5% and private registrations increasing by 4%. Fleets continued to account for the majority of new cars, taking almost 59% of the market. Business registrations increased by 25%, although they represent just 3% of overall sales.

The new car market is now running almost 10% ahead of last year, with 1.89 million cars registered across the first ten months of 2026. Private registrations have grown by 12% year to date, compared with an 8% increase for fleets.

EVs and plug-in hybrids account for all market growth

As has been the case for much of 2026, electric and plug-in hybrid cars were responsible for the market’s growth in October. Registrations of petrol, diesel and regular hybrid cars all declined compared with the same month last year.

Almost 49,000 electric cars were registered during October, representing a 33% increase on last year. That gave EVs a 32% share of the overall market – their highest monthly share so far this year.

Plug-in hybrids also performed strongly, with registrations rising by 30% to almost 23,000 cars. They accounted for another 15% of the market, meaning that cars with plugs represented 47% of all new registrations in October.

Going the other way, petrol registrations declined by 12%, while diesel fell by 16%. Regular hybrids were down by 5% for the second consecutive month.

The decline in petrol sales is particularly noticeable. Petrol cars accounted for 44% of new registrations in October last year, but that figure has fallen to just 37% this year.

Year to date, more than half a million electric cars have been registered in the UK, up by 30% compared with the same period last year. EVs now account for 27% of the market, up from 22% in 2025.

Plug-in hybrid registrations have grown even faster, up by 41% year to date. They have also overtaken regular hybrids in total registrations, suggesting that more buyers are choosing cars capable of running on electric power alone for longer journeys.

Good month, bad month

Although the overall new car market grew by 5% in October, there was a considerable difference between the best- and worst-performing manufacturers.

Once again, several Chinese brands recorded particularly strong growth. Jaecoo registrations increased by 114%, MG grew by 85%, BYD by 73% and Chery by 194%. Omoda also enjoyed a positive month, with registrations increasing by 49%.

Other above-average performers included Abarth, Alpine, Changan, DS Automobiles, Fiat, Honda, Ineos, Jeep, Leapmotor, Mini, SEAT, Smart and XPeng. All of these brands outperformed the overall market by at least ten percentage points, meaning year-on-year growth of at least 15%.

It was not such good news for Alfa Romeo, Audi, Chevrolet, Citroën, Dacia, Ford, GWM, Hyundai, KGM, Lexus, Lotus, Maxus, Mazda, Nissan, Peugeot, Polestar, Porsche, Renault, Skywell, Subaru, Suzuki, Tesla, Toyota, Vauxhall and Volvo. All of these brands underperformed the overall market by at least ten percentage points.

Ford was one of the month’s biggest losers, with registrations falling by 35% compared with October last year. That’s a decline of more than 3,000 cars, despite the continued popularity of the Puma.

The following brands were about where you’d expect them to be: BMW, Cupra, Genesis, Kia, Land Rover, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Skoda and Volkswagen. All recorded results within ten percentage points (plus or minus) of the overall market.

Newer or returning brands including Aion, Geely, Lepas and Mitsubishi also registered cars during October, but have no comparable October 2025 figures.

Volkswagen remains the UK’s biggest individual car brand, with almost 13,700 registrations in October. BMW and Audi were second and third, followed by MG and Kia.

MG recorded the largest absolute increase of any established brand, registering more than 3,600 additional cars compared with last October. Conversely, Ford suffered the largest decline in registrations.

Jaecoo 7 narrowly beats Ford Puma

The Jaecoo 7 returned to the top of the UK’s best-selling cars chart in October, narrowly beating the Ford Puma. The Chinese SUV recorded 3,412 registrations, just 43 more than the Puma’s 3,369. The Volkswagen Golf finished third with 2,642 registrations, followed by the Mini Countryman and Kia Sportage.

The Mini Cooper, Nissan Qashqai and MG HS occupied sixth, seventh and eighth respectively, while the Audi A3 finished ninth. The Jaecoo 5 completed the top ten, giving Jaecoo two models among Britain’s best-sellers.

Despite losing out in October, the Puma remains the best-selling car of 2026 overall, with more than 46,000 registrations. However, the Jaecoo 7 continues to close the gap, sitting second with almost 43,000 registrations. The Kia Sportage remains third, ahead of the Nissan Qashqai.

In the electric car rankings, the Skoda Enyaq took the top spot in October with around 1,600 registrations, narrowly ahead of the electric Mini Countryman and Jaecoo E5.

The electric Vauxhall Frontera was fourth, followed by the Audi Q4 e-tron, BYD Seal and BMW iX3. The Ford Puma Gen-E, Kia EV3 and Leapmotor B10 completed the electric top ten.

Perhaps surprisingly, neither the Tesla Model 3 nor Model Y appeared in October’s electric top ten, despite the Model 3 topping the electric charts in September.