Comment on SMMT sales data for May

“The ZEV Mandate continues to do its thing – increasing competition between manufacturers, driving down prices and driving up sales. With EV sales up 26%, and petrol sales down 12.5%, the UK’s drivers continue to make the shift to cleaner and cheaper electric driving in ever increasing numbers. 
 
“EV market share now sits at 21%. Suggestions that this means the car industry is falling short of its headline 28% EV sales targets are misleading. Flexibilities built into the mandate, which the industry recently pressured the Government into expanding even further, mean the industry actually needs to hit 22% EV sales this year, [2] meaning it is well on course to comply for the second year running.
 
“It’s not just those buying new cars who benefit, the ZEV mandate will start to fill up the second-hand market with EVs where most of us buy our cars. Recent changes to the mandate threaten to undo this progress, and could instead incentivise the sale of dirtier and more expensive plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, at the expensive of EVs.
 
“Tesla’s sales are down 7.8% for the year to date according to the SMMT, and is on the verge of losing its number one spot for UK EV sales to VW – who have seen their EV sales increase by over 200%. With other manufacturers – such as Ford, Renault and Peugeot – registering similarly impressive increases, legacy manufacturers are proving more than capable of rising to the challenge of making the transition to building the electric cars of the future. BYD is the sole Chinese manufacturer in the top 10 for UK EV sales, and is down to 10th place.”
 
Analysis by New Automotive has found that while Tesla has registered a fall in year to date EV sales in 2025, 9 manufacturers in the top 20 for EV sales have registered increases in excess of 100%. VW, which on current trajectories could replace Tesla as the number one seller of EVs in the UK as soon as next month, has registered an increase in EV sales of 201%. Similarly impressive growth has also been registered by the likes of Peugeot (112%), Skoda (143%), Ford (324%), Renault (246%), Polestar (173%), Cupra (106%) and UK-manufactured electric Minis (292%). BYD has also registered impressive growth – at 261% - but has slipped down to 10th in the rankings for UK EV sales, and is the only Chinese manufacturer in the top 10. [3]