The United Kingdom registered approximately 2.02 million passenger vehicles in 2025 according to SMMT, broadly flat versus the 2.0M of 2024 and well below the 2.7M average of the mid-2010s. The market is structurally smaller, fleet-heavy, and increasingly electrified.
BEV Share Reaches 19.7%
BEVs took roughly 23.4% of UK new car registrations in 2025, up from 18.1% in 2024. The Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate's 2025 target was 28%, which OEMs missed, but the gap was narrower than expected because many manufacturers used flexibility credits and fleet conversions to limit penalty exposure.
Tesla Model Y: UK's #1 Car
The Tesla Model Y remained the UK's best-selling EV in 2025 (~24,300 units) but slipped out of the top 10 overall. The Ford Puma and Kia Sportage led the all-cars table. In 2024 the Tesla Model Y had taken the UK's #1 spot outright; in 2025 the lead returned to ICE/hybrid SUVs.
Brand-Level: VW Holds #1
Volkswagen led the UK brand table with ~170,000 units (8.7% share), followed by BMW, Audi, Toyota, Kia and Ford. Hyundai, MG and Tesla all rose. Nissan slid as the Qashqai aged.
Two Plate-Change Months Drive the Year
March (~283k registrations) and September (~287k) together account for roughly 29% of full-year UK car sales. The plate-change cycle is the most distinctive feature of the UK market versus continental Europe.
See the UK regional and fuel-type evolution on the UK dashboard.