In 2022, there has been a drop in the number of new car registrations in the UK, especially when it comes to fleet vehicles. However, EVs overtake diesel vehicles for the very first time and fell short in number only to petrol vehicles.
Despite underlying demand, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said that year-end registrations declined 2.0% to 1.61 million due to the semiconductor shortage.
In spite of a second-half resurgence, the market fell 700,000 units short of the levels attained prior to COVID. December was the fifth straight month of gain, with 128,462 new registrations, an 18.3% increase. The UK regained Europe’s second-largest market throughout the year.
In 2022, carmakers prioritized private sales over fleet registrations. Fleet sales fell around 7.5% to 750,839 units, representing 46.5% of the market. Private registrations rose 2.0% to 818,509 (50.7%), while “business” registrations to organizations with 25 or fewer vehicles rose 37.0% to 44,715 (2.8%).
Fleet registrations rose 42.9% and business increased 98.1%. Private registrations, however, went down by 7.4% – a reflection of plummeting consumer confidence. The SMMT stated supply chains are stabilizing, but unpredictable supplies will likely affect manufacturing in 2023.
During the 2022 semiconductor shortage, manufacturers prioritized BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) and hybrid delivery. December BEV sales rose 52.6% to 32.9%. They rose 40.1% and took 16.6% of registrations across 2022. In other words, EVs overtake diesel vehicles for the first time ever, becoming the second-most preferred power-train behind petrol.
Plug-in hybrids climbed 0.4% in December but declined 11.5% over 2022. This brought down their annual share to around 6.3%, down from 7% in 2021. However, along with BEVs, plug-in cars comprised 22.9% of all new registrations made in 2022 – a record high but a lesser market share growth than in prior years.
HEVs went up by 58.1% during December and enjoyed an average increase of 27.6% across 2022. The market share for the year, too, went up to 11.6%.
These numbers tell us that people are finally ready to make the switch to cleaner transport and are gradually turning their backs on transport that relies on fossil fuels. It’s also a great sign for the EV industry, which has been booming in the past few years after the realization that the switch to clean energy is inevitable and necessary.