UK: Plug-In Car Sales Reach 23% Share In October 2021

Kia EV6 enters the market with the first 349 units and more than 1,600 pre-orders.

By: Mark Kane

Nov 9, 2021 at 8:55am ET

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The passenger car market in the UK noted its fourth consecutive year-over-year fall and the weakest October since 1991, with 106,265 new registrations (down 24.6% year-over-year). One of the main reasons is car supply constraints.

Nonetheless, the plug-in electric cars are expanding even in the challenging environment. In October, some 24,537 new plug-ins were registered (up 43% year-over-year), which is 23.1% of the total.

In the recent months, the battery-electric cars continue to sell at a much higher volume and expand quicker than plug-in hybrids.

"Plug-in vehicles now account for 16.6% of all new car registrations in 2021, which, when joined by a further 9.1% from hybrid electric vehicles means that 25.7%, or more than a quarter of the new car market, has been electrified year-to-date."

Plug-in electric car registrations in the UK – October 2021

BEVs: 16,155 (up 73% year-over-year) at market share of 15.2%
PHEVs: 8,382 (up 7.5% year-over-year) at market share of 7.9%
Total: 24,537 (up 43% year-over-year) at market share of 23.1%

So far this year, more than 236,000 new passenger plug-in cars were registered in the UK, reaching an average market share of 16.6%.

Sales YTD:

BEVs: 141,296 (up 86% year-over-year) - market share of 9.9%
PHEVs: 95,422 (up 90% year-over-year)- market share of 6.7%
Total: 236,718 (up 88% year-over-year) - market share of 16.6%

More details, including also other types:

Top models

Unfortunately, SMMT does not provide ranking for plug-ins so we can't extract more data from the basic report.

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Kia reports that in October it sold more all-electric cars than any other brands - 1,669 (22.8% of its volume), which consists of the Kia Niro EV, Kia Soul EV and the all-new Kia EV6 that has just entered the market with 349 units sold.

The South Korean manufacturer said also that during the 10-month period it sold in the UK some 11,762 BEVs (14.4% of its total volume of 81,532) and has a strong bank of more than 1,600 pre-orders of Kia EV6 (UK).