By Dominic Chopping

The U.K. new-car sales fell by 10.4% in April as new tax changes were introduced, an industry body said.

A total of 120,331 cars were registered in April compared with 134,274 in the same month last year, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said Tuesday.

The decline marks the sixth decrease in registrations in the last seven months, reflecting a fragile economic backdrop and weakened consumer confidence, the SMMT said.

In what is traditionally a quieter month following the March plate change, volumes were also hit by the late timing of Easter, resulting in fewer working days. In addition, the implementation of vehicle excise duty changes affecting all new cars, including the expensive car supplement which became applicable to many new EVs from 1 April, pushed transactions into March as buyers got ahead of the tax increases, it said.

Private registrations fell 7.9% on year, while fleet registrations fell by 11.9% and the much smaller business sector fell 10.9%.

Battery electric vehicle registrations rose 8.1% and plug-in hybrid registrations rose 34.1%, while hybrid electric vehicle registrations fell 2.9%, the SMMT said.

Registrations of petrol vehicles slumped 22% to 58,733 units and diesel registrations fell 26.2% to 6,381 units.

The industry body said that while EVs' market share has improved significantly year-to-date to 20.7%, it remains below the U.K. government's requirement of 28% for this year.

SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes said that recently proposed amendments to the zero emission vehicle mandate requirements are welcome and an important first step in relieving some of the pressure on the market and manufacturers.

"However, EV uptake is still being heavily and unsustainably subsidized by the industry which is why a compelling package of measures from government is essential if consumers are going to make the switch," he said.

The U.K.'s top two best-selling cars in April were the Kia Sportage and Ford Puma, according to the SMMT.

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 06, 2025 05:54 ET (09:54 GMT)

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