UK car market statistics: Used and new car sales Q2/Q3 2025

Source: SMMT

• Petrol remained the best selling fuel type in Q2 2025, with transactions rising 1.5% to 1,134,387 units.
• Diesel sales fell -4.3% to 664,644 units.
• Together, petrol and diesel accounted for 90.1% of all transactions, though their combined market share declined by more than -2%, while electrified powertrains gained ground.

• Approximately 1 in 10 (9.7%) used cars were electrified (BEV, HEV, or PHEV).
• HEV transactions rose 27.7% to 100,127 units, securing a 5.0% market share.
• PHEV transactions increased 10.3% to 24,370 units, representing a 1.2% market share.
• BEV transactions recorded the strongest growth, up 40.0% to 68,721 units, with a 3.4% market share.

• According to CAP HPI, as of August 2025, 47% of used BEVs are priced below £20k (including popular models such as the Volkswagen ID.3, Audi e-tron, Kia e-Niro, Vauxhall Mokka, and Jaguar I-Pace).
• Additionally, almost 7% of used BEVs fall below the £10k mark, including the Nissan Leaf, Renault ZOE, and Vauxhall Corsa.
• In July, the average time to sell a used car was 40 days, holding steady from June.
• Looking at individual powertrains, HEV cars sold fastest (37 days), followed by petrol (39), BEV (40), PHEV (41), and diesel (43).

Source: SMMT

Used car market commentary

webuyanycar’s head of technical services, Richard Evans, said:

“Whilst petrol remains the leading powertrain for used car buyers, increasing numbers of buyers are turning to electrified options.

“HEVs and PHEVs have both recorded strong sales, but BEVs were the biggest winner in the first half of 2025. Improved choice, value, and price accessibility for EV buyers were pivotal in driving this growth.

Best selling used cars Q1/Q2 2025

Source: SMMT

• In 2024, the Ford Fiesta was the UK’s best selling used car with 306,207 sold, despite ceasing production in summer 2023!
• In Q1 and Q2 2025, the Ford Fiesta also topped the used sales charts with 156,103 sold in H1 2025.
• The Vauxhall Corsa, which was the second best selling used car of 2024, also placed second in Q1 and Q2 2025, with a total of 127,914 sold in H1 2025.
• In Q2 2025, the used car market enjoyed its 10th consecutive quarter of growth, with the market drawing within 1% of pre-pandemic levels in the first half of the year.
• A total of 4,017,106 used cars were sold in the first half of 2025 – a 2.2% YoY increase.

Most popular used car types Q2 2025

• In Q2, used car buyers continued to favour smaller cars, with superminis holding the highest market share (31.8%), followed by lower medium vehicles (26.7%).
• Supermini sales grew 1.3% YoY to 635,126 units, while low medium vehicle sales increased 0.5% to reach 533,860 units.
• Dual purpose vehicle (DPV) transactions also grew 6.7% YoY, to 331,924 units.
• Meanwhile, specialist sports cars experienced the sharpest drop of –4.1% YoY, to 58,759.
• Upper medium vehicles saw the next biggest decline, falling –3.4% YoY to 186,714 units.

Used car market predictions for 2025 and beyond

• Cox Automotive's forecast states that used car sales will stabilise in 2025 – with 7,643,043 sales predicted.
• The automotive software provider also predicts that electrified vehicles’ share of the car parc will grow significantly by 2028.
• The share of HEVs and PHEVs is projected to increase by 87% - and BEVs by 177%.
• Petrol cars are expected to see a 5.97% decline over the same period.
• The forecast also anticipates that the total used vehicle parc will grow to 35,797,969 by the end of 2025 – and 36,593,489 by the end of 2028.
• The number of BEVs is also expected to grow to 1,799,590 (achieving a 5% share of used vehicle parc) - and 3,724,962 by 2028 (10.2% of the projected parc).

Source: Cox Automotive

UK used car sales statistics (2025-2014)

Source: SMMT

New car market statistics: July 2024-25

Source: SMMT.

• In July 2025, BEV sales grew to 9.1% YoY, securing a 21.3% market share, whilst PHEV sales grew 33.0% YoY to take a 12.5% market share.
• Meanwhile, HEV sales dipped 10% YoY, as market share also fell slightly to 13.2%.
• Finally, petrol and diesel sales both declined by 14.7% and 7.9% YoY respectively, with petrol dropping to a 47.3% market share, and diesel to 5.7%.

Source: SMMT

• All electrified vehicles saw YoY increases in registrations between January and July 2025, while traditional petrol and diesel car registrations dropped.
• BEV registrations rose 31.0% YoY and market share increased to 21.5% (up 4.7% YoY).
• HEV registrations grew by 6.5% YoY – and market share grew to 14.0% (up 0.5% YoY).

• Petrol cars recorded a -10.1% YoY drop in registrations – and market share fell to 48.3% (down -6.7% YoY).
• Diesel registrations fell -10.9% YoY, with market share shrinking to 5.6% (a -0.9% YoY drop).

The gap between fleet and private demand

Source: SMMT

• Private sales are up 4% YoY, lifting market share from 37.8% to 38.4%.
• Fleet registrations have grown more modestly at 1.6%, easing their market share slightly to 59.5% (down -0.4% YoY).
• This has led to a slight decrease in the gap between fleet and private demand.

Source: SMMT

• In July, demand from both private and fleet buyers fell by –3.2% and –6.5% to 51,646 and 85,594 registrations respectively.
• Meanwhile, registrations in the business sector grew by 10.4% YoY, reaching 2,914 units.

webuyanycar’s head of technical services, Richard Evans, said:

Whilst fleet registrations are still a driving force in the new car market, the data clearly shows an uptick in private demand.

However, it is still too early to observe the full impact of the Government’s Electric Car Grant for certain EV models – and new generous manufacturer discounts for others. These attractive grants and offers could drive more private sales for EVs over the coming months.

New car market predictions 2025

• According to the SMMT’s July 2025 forecast, the new car market is expected to grow by 1.7% to 1.986 million units (a slight increase from April’s 1.964 million forecast).
• BEV registrations are predicted to rise to 23.7%, pushing market share to 23.8% (up slightly from April’s 23.5% forecast).
• The PHEV market is anticipated to rise to 29.7% to achieve a 10.9% market share (up from April’s 10% forecast).
• HEV market share is expected to hit 14.5% following a 9.9% rise in volumes.
• The petrol market is expected to drop by -11.4%, cutting market share to 45.5%.
• Finally, the diesel market is anticipated to fall by -13.0%, cutting market share to 5.4%.

Source: SMMT

New car market predictions 2026

According to the SMMT’s July forecast, in 2026:

• The overall car market is forecast to grow 1.7% to 2.019 million units (slightly higher than April’s 1.992m forecast).
• BEVs are expected to see a 20.5% rise in sales, taking market share to 28.2% (up from April’s 28.0% forecast).
• PHEVs are predicted to grow by 10.8%, lifting their share to 11.9%.
• HEVs are projected to increase 12.8%, reaching a 16.0% share of the market.
• Diesel registrations are set to drop -15.9%, reducing market share to 4.5%.
• Petrol is also expected to decline, with registrations down -11.8% and market share falling to 39.4%.

Source: SMMT

Best selling new car models (2023-2025)

Source: SMMT

webuyanycar’s head of technical services, Richard Evans, said:

In the first half of 2025, the Ford Puma continued to set the pace in the new car sales charts.

New car buyers have shown a clear preference for the Puma, and other compact SUVs such as the Kia Sportage, Nissan’s Qashqai and Juke, and the Hyundai Tucson.

Reliable favourites such as the Vauxhall Corsa and Volkswagen Golf have also performed well so far this year.

Although no electric-only models made it into the top 10 for H1 2025, the Government’s new Electric Car grant and manufacturer discounts on many BEVs that were ineligible for the grant could help to drive BEV sales as the year progresses.

How many cars are there in the UK?

According to DVLA data, as of March 2025, there were approximately 34,157,000 UK-registered cars.

UK used car sales by powertrain (2023-2024)

Source: SMMT

UK new car sales statistics (2026-2011)