06 October 2025
Electrified vehicles, including full hybrids (HEVs), plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) led UK registrations in September. But is this first likely to be a continuing trend? Autovista24 special content editor Phil Curry explores the data.
September saw the UK new-car market bounce back, inspired by the traditional ‘new-plate’ release. In total, 312,891 passenger cars were registered, an increase of 13.7% year on year.
The SMMT, which provides registration data in the UK, highlighted that this was the best September result since 2020.
September also saw electrified vehicles overtake internal-combustion engine (ICE) models in terms of market share. This came despite a rare increase in petrol registrations, although not enough to see off this change in leadership.
March and September are traditionally the strongest months for registrations in the UK. September saw the ‘75’ plate released, helping boost deliveries. This helped propel the country’s year-to-date figures. In the first nine months of 2025, a total of 1,578,172 passenger cars took to UK roads, up 4.2% compared to the same period in 2024.
All market sectors drove growth, with the biggest increase recorded by fleets. These volumes rose 16.9% with 174,336 units delivered. Private consumer demand also increased, up 8.9% to 131,003 units. Business registrations improved 28.6% to reach 7,552 units.
Best ever for BEVs
BEVs saw their best-ever month in terms of volumes during September. In total, 72,779 all-electric models made it onto UK roads, a 29.1% increase year on year. This gave the zero-emission tailpipe technology a 23.3% share of total deliveries, up by 2.8 percentage points (pp).
Although this market share was the fourth-highest of the year, it came during one of the country’s highest-volume months. The figure also beat the other new-plate period of March, showing the technology’s growth across the year. Yet the share is still lower than the 28% required by the zero-emission vehicle mandate for carmakers in 2025.
In the first three quarters of the year, BEV registrations were up 29.5%, with 349,414 deliveries. This equated to 22.1% of the market, a 4.3pp increase compared to the same period last year.
Electrified incentives make a mark
September was the first full month to see models available under the UK’s Electric Car Grant. This meant new BEVs could qualify for up to £3,750 (€4,318) based on a sustainability criteria.
The scheme was introduced in July 2025, with the first eligible models confirmed on 5 August. As of 6 October, 28 models qualify for the scheme.
However, only two of these, the Ford Puma Gen-E and Ford E-Tourneo Courier, are available with the full discount. Others, including models from Stellantis, Renault Group, Nissan and Volkswagen Group, are available with the lower £1,500 discount.
The SMMT highlighted that the eligible models make up around 25% of all available BEVs in the UK. Combined, these vehicles increased their registrations by 36% in September, compared to a 26.9% improvement for non-qualifying BEVs.
The Ford Puma was also the market leader in September, with 41,531 units delivered in the year to date. However, this includes the petrol variant of the model.
‘Electrified vehicles are powering market growth after a sluggish summer, and with record zero-emission vehicle uptake, massive industry investment is paying off, despite demand still trailing ambition,’ commented Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT.
‘The Electric Car Grant will help to break down one of the barriers holding back more drivers from making the switch, and tackling remaining roadblocks, by unlocking infrastructure investment and driving down energy costs, will be crucial to the success of the industry and the environmental goals we share,’ he added.
Strong month for PHEVs
While BEVs enjoyed a record month in terms of volume, PHEVs also experienced a strong month. In total, 38,308 units were registered in September, a 56.4% improvement compared to the same month last year. This was the highest volume for PHEVs so far in 2025.
The result gave the powertrain a 12.2% share of the market, up from 8.9% recorded a year prior. This was, however, not enough to repeat its achievement in August, of being more popular than HEVs.
In the first nine months of the year, PHEVs saw 172,639 registrations, a 38.2% improvement. This means the technology continues to outpace BEVs in terms of growth. The plug-in technology held 10.9% of the market, up 2.6pp year on year.
As a result, in September, the electric vehicle (EV) market, made up of BEVs and PHEVs, grew by 37.4%. This meant 30,214 more EVs took to the UK’s roads. The technology accounted for 35.5% of the total registration volume in September, up 6.1pp.
Between January and September, EV deliveries were up by 32.2%, with 127,197 more units registered, equating to 522,053 cars. This means the technology held almost a third of the market, with a share of 33.1%, up by 7pp year on year.
HEVs also saw strong growth in September, although figures did not improve as much as those of BEVs and PHEVs. Still, 47,885 units were delivered in the month, up 23.5% compared to the same period last year. This gave the powertrain a 15.3% market share, up 1.2pp
In the first nine months of 2025, HEVs recorded 222,669 registrations, an 8.6% improvement. Their market share increased by 0.6pp, to 14.1% across 2025 so far.
Electrified dominance
Combining HEVs into the EV figures does reveal a change in market dominance. For the first time, electrified vehicles led the monthly figures. Increasing by 32.9%, 158,972 delivered units featured a major electric presence within their powertrain.
The SMMT reports the hybrid market differently from other major European markets. Rather than combining HEVs and mild hybrids (MHEVs) into one category, it splits them. MHEVs are then combined with their respective petrol or diesel categories.
This means that it has taken longer for electrified registration figures to overtake their ICE counterparts in the UK. However, September’s results show that for the first time, a majority of newly registered passenger cars can travel even a short distance on electric power only.
With declining ICE registrations and BEV and PHEV deliveries growing, electrified vehicles are likely to keep leading the market.
However, in the year-to-date figures, electrified models remained in second. The grouping accounted for 744,722 deliveries in the first nine months of the year, up 24.1%. This was an increase of 144,820 units. Their market share rose by 7.6pp compared to the same period last year, to 47.2%.
There was a difference of just 5,053 units between electrified and ICE registrations in September, in favour of electric-based models. Therefore, it may take time for ICE to be toppled in the year-to-date, with fossil-fuel power still 88,728 units ahead.
Not all bad for ICE
Despite losing their monthly dominance for the first time, it was not all bad news for the ICE market.
Petrol registrations grew 2.4% in the month, with 141,310 units delivered. This was the first time since March 2024 that the fuel type saw a monthly improvement. Petrol-powered models took a 45.2% market share, maintaining its place as the most popular single powertrain.
Yet, with improvements elsewhere in a diversifying market, this was 4.9pp down compared to September 2024.
Petrol struggled in the first nine months of the year. September’s performance may provide a respite, but the powertrain was still down 8.2% across the year, with 749,794 units delivered. This left the technology with a 47.5% market share, still leading in terms of individual powertrains, but down 6.4pp.
Diesel was the only powertrain to record a decline in September. In total, 12,609 units were registered, down 28.2% year on year. Market share also declined, by 2.4pp, to 4%.
Between January and September, diesel deliveries dropped 14.3% with 83,656 registrations. Its market share ended the period at 5.3%, down 1.1pp.
Combined ICE registrations dropped by 1.1% in the month, thanks to diesel’s poor performance. This equated to 1,661 fewer units delivered to customers and 153,919 in total. The technology lost its market-leading position with a total share of 49.2%, down 7.3pp.
However, ICE still controlled the market in the year to date, although registrations were down 8.8%, with 833,450 deliveries. This was a change of 80,724 units compared to the first nine months of 2024. The grouping’s market share of 52.8% was still dominant but marked a 7.6pp decline.
