British new car registrations are expected to rise to nearly 2.1 million units in 2026, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said this week, with the share of zero-emission vehicles lower than previously forecast after soft first-quarter demand.
The sales outlook for the industry has been upgraded from about 2.05 million units, signalling improving confidence and healthy demand for new cars in Britain despite risks from the Iran war.
The new car market last month grew 24 per cent from a year earlier to reach 149,247 registrations, data from the SMMT showed, reflecting a rebound from an unusually weak April last year.
The share of zero-emission vehicles in the 2026 sales forecast has been lowered to 26.8 per cent from 28.5 per cent earlier, as a boost to electric vehicle interest from higher fuel prices could be tempered by worries about inflation, energy costs, and pressure on household budgets, the SMMT said.
The auto body expects the UK’s new car market to reach 2.12 million units in 2027, with battery electric vehicles accounting for 32 per cent of registrations, still about six percentage points below the zero-emission vehicle mandate.Zero-emission vehicles include battery electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, and other models that produce no tailpipe emissions.
SMMT CEO Mike Hawes called for a review of the green transition to align policy with market realities as the “mounting cost of compliance threatens to limit consumer choice, overall decarbonisation and the sector’s competitiveness,” which could hurt Britain’s attractiveness as a vehicle market and manufacturing hub.
Tesla’s UK new car sales rose 62 per cent year-on-year to 831 units in April, according to the SMMT. Data from New Automotive on Tuesday also showed a similar jump in Tesla’s UK numbers.
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