New car registrations grew strongly in August, with electric cars taking almost 30% of the market ahead of the number plate change in September.
The overall market recorded another strong month in August, continuing growth in every month of this year, with registrations up by 14% compared with last August.
According to data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), more than 94,000 new cars were registered during August, compared with about 83,000 a year ago. This is the ninth consecutive month of growth and the strongest August since the current twice-yearly number plate system was introduced.
The caveat to any data is that August and February are the two slowest months of the year ahead of the new number plate months of March and September. As a result, we often see more variability in the numbers. However, what is clearly evident is that this August followed the year-long pattern of overall market growth, led as usual by strong performances from electric and plug-in hybrid cars.
As has been the case for most of the year, private registrations showed more growth than fleet registrations, although fleets are still comfortably the larger buyer segment.
EVs continue their year-long success
Electric cars enjoyed yet another strong month, with registrations increasing by 28% compared with last August. More than 28,000 EVs were registered, accounting for just under 30% of all new cars registered in August.
That was the second-highest monthly EV market share of 2026 so far, and in year-to-date numbers they hold a 26% market share. This is leading to ever-more comical excuses in SMMT press releases as the lobby group tries to argue that EV targets need to be watered down despite sales continuing to surge each month…
Plug-in hybrids continued their renaissance in August, with registrations up by 40%. Petrol was the only powertrain to decline, falling by around 4% to just over 36,000 registrations. Diesel was up by 4%, although from a very low base, and still accounts for less than 5% of the market.
For the year to date, EV registrations are now up by 29% to almost 356,000 cars, giving them 26% of the market. Plug-in hybrids are up by 38% and now account for 13%, meaning cars with plugs represent almost four in ten new cars registered so far this year.
The SMMT continues to compare EV sales against the headline 33% ZEV mandate target for 2026, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. As we’ve explained previously, manufacturers can use various allowances and flexibilities within the legislation, so the effective target is lower and will vary from brand to brand. On that basis, the industry’s current 26% EV share is widely accepted to already be more than enough to hit its 2026 target.
The government has nevertheless caved into lobbying from the SMMT and selected car manufacturers and announced another review of the ZEV mandate, which has sharply divided opinion across the industry.
Good month, bad month
Although the overall new car market was up by 14%, the results were very mixed when looking across individual manufacturers. Once again, much of the market’s growth is coming from Chinese brands, while plenty of familiar names are either treading water or going backwards.
It was a good month for Abarth, Alpine, BYD, Chery, Citroën, DS Automobiles, Fiat, Genesis, Jaecoo, Jeep, Leapmotor, Lotus, Mazda, MG, Omoda, Smart, Toyota, Vauxhall and XPeng. All of these brands outperformed the market by at least ten percentage points, meaning they grew their registration numbers by at least 24% compared with last July.
Meanwhile, things weren’t so good for Alfa Romeo, Audi, BMW, Changan, Chevrolet, Cupra, Dacia, Ford, GWM, Honda, Hyundai, Ineos, KGM, Land Rover, Lexus, Maserati, Mini, Nissan, Peugeot, Polestar, Porsche, SEAT, Subaru, Tesla, Volkswagen and Volvo. All of these brands underperformed against the overall market by at least ten percentage points, meaning they either grew registrations by less than 4% or lost numbers compared with last July.
That leaves Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Skoda and Suzuki broadly where we’d expect them to be. All were within +/-10% of the overall market.
Volkswagen continued its run as the UK’s biggest new car brand, comfortably ahead of Kia, Audi, BMW and Ford.
Chery Group is now a serious force in its own right. Add together the intertwined brands of Chery, Jaecoo and Omoda, and the group registered more than 8,600 cars in August, which would place it ahead of Volkswagen as the UK’s best-selling brand.
Puma holds onto top spot
The Ford Puma remained the UK’s best-selling new car in August, with close to 3,000 new Puma models arriving on UK roads last month. It also extended its lead at the top of the year-to-date rankings, with almost 36,000 registrations so far in 2026.
The Jaecoo 7 finished second place in the monthly sales leaderboard with just over 2,000 registrations, ahead of the MG HS in third. The newer Jaecoo 5 is proving popualr with UK buyers too, taking fourth place. That means three of August’s four best-selling cars came from Chinese-owned brands.
The Kia Sportage was fifth, followed by the Omoda 5, Mini Cooper and Ford Kuga. The new electric Mercedes-Benz CLA took ninth place, while the Vauxhall Frontera completed the top ten.
Tesla returns to the top of the EV charts
After being absent from the electric car sales charts in recent months, Tesla returned to the top of the electric car rankings in August.
The Tesla Model 3 was comfortably the month’s best-selling EV, with almost 1,300 registrations. The Model Y was second, narrowly ahead of the electric Vauxhall Frontera Electric.
The Jaecoo 5’s battery-powered twin, the Jaecoo E5, took fourth, while the electric Mercedes-Benz CLA was fifth. The Skoda Enyaq and Skoda Elroq were separated by just two registrations in sixth and seventh respectively, followed by the Renault 5, Kia EV3 and Audi Q6 e-tron.
Additional reporting by Stuart Masson.
