The UK’s car and van markets ended 2025 on a broadly positive footing, with steady overall growth and continued progress in electrification – particularly across fleets.
New figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show new car registrations rising 3.5% year-on-year to just over 2.02 million units. Fleet operators remained central to this recovery, accounting for more than half of all registrations, as businesses continued to refresh vehicles despite ongoing economic and regulatory uncertainty.
Electric vehicle uptake also gathered pace. Almost 473,000 battery electric cars were registered during the year, lifting BEVs to 23.4% of the market. While this remains short of the 28% ZEV mandate target, the gap narrowed notably during the final quarter, underlining how manufacturer incentives, wider model choice and improving charging access are beginning to influence fleet and private buyers alike.
The light commercial vehicle market proved more challenging, with registrations down 10.3% to 315,422 units. However, electric vans were a clear bright spot, with volumes up 36.2% year-on-year to a record 30,169 units. BEVs still represent just 9.5% of the van market, but the direction of travel is clear as more models enter the market and depot charging support improves.
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