The upturn is primarily attributed to high commercial demand, which has continued to outpace retail purchases. Credit: Fahroni / Shutterstock.

New car sales in the UK have crossed the “million motors” milestone in the first half (H1) of 2024, a feat not achieved since 2019, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ (SMMT) latest report.

This upturn is primarily attributed to high commercial demand, which has continued to outpace the retail purchases, the industry body said.

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Last month alone, new car registrations increased 1.1% year-over-year to 179,263 units.

Consequently, the total of new cars registered for January to June 2024 has reached 1,006,763, marking a 6% rise from the previous year.

However, this figure still trails the 1,269,245 new car registrations recorded in the first half of 2019 by 20.7%.

The growth in June’s market was driven by the fleet sector, which experienced a 14.2% surge in uptake.

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In contrast, private retail demand has been declining for nine consecutive months, with a 15.3% drop reported.

SMMT’s data shows that retail buyers now represent less than four out of ten new car registrations, at 37.7%. 

Meanwhile, electrified vehicles have continued to see growth, with plug-in hybrid (PHEV) volumes increasing by 30% to claim a 9.3% market share.

Hybrid-electric vehicles (HEV) recorded a 27.2% increase to secure 14.9% of the market.

Despite these gains, battery electric vehicle (BEV) growth was more modest at 7.4%, although BEVs achieved their highest monthly share this year, accounting for 19% of all new vehicle registrations.

According to SMMT, year to date, private BEV uptake decreased by 10.8%, with less than one in five new BEVs being registered by private buyers.

Overall, BEVs now make up 16.6% of the new car market so far this year, an increase from 16.1% recorded in the same period last year.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “The private consumer market continues to shrink against a difficult economic backdrop, but with the right policies in place, the next government can re-energise the market and deliver a faster, fairer zero-emission transition.

“All parties are agreed on the need to cut carbon and replacing older fossil fuel-based technologies with new electrified powertrains is the essential step to achieving that goal.”