Is the car market recovering? | Axon's Automotive Anorak

The final 2023 new car registration figure of 1,903,054 was a 17.9% increase over 2022, the highest volume since 2019 and the pandemic. All of this growth, however, was thanks to the vital fleet sector of the market, with private sales still remaining flat, in line with EV sales. From this year however, at least 22 per cent of all new cars sold in the UK will have to be electrically powered, this proportion raising to 80 per cent by the year 2030, ahead of the postponed outlawing of all ICE sales from 2035, so if you want a decent ICE-powered new car, this could really be the year to go out and get it.

Battery electric vehicles accounted for 19.7 per cent of total UK new car registrations last year to take 17.5 per cent of the total British market, despite BEV sales dropping by 34.2 per cent in December against the same month in 2022. Plug-in hybrid cars saw a 45.4 increase overall in 2023, with petrol-powered sales actually increasing too to take the majority of the market. It won’t come a surprise to learn that diesel sales were down by 13.8 per cent. Self-charging hybrids grew 18.5 per cent with mild petrol hybrids up 55.8 per cent , but diesel hybrids were down by 3.4 per cent.

Last year, more than any previous year for decades, reflected a huge shift in British consumer tastes with more eco-focused cars in demand, with SUVs and crossovers strangely also remaining in strong demand, despite their many shortcomings over more conventional models. Overall, seven out of the UK’s top ten best-sellers were SUVs, as demand (and commensurately options) for more traditional cars decreased, with fewer small and mid-sized Fiesta and Focus-esque hatchbacks now finding buyers, these radical changes in the British motoring scene are particularly apparent with the abandonment of the historically-popular mid-size saloon, as once dominated by the likes of the Mondeo, Vectra, Passat et al, with crossover SUVs now filling these slots.

Although more dynamic and diverse than the traditional British new car sales charts of old, when Ford dominated with the Fiesta, Focus, Mondeo, and so on, 2023’s registration winners were still a little predictable and a tad dull. Hopefully, the new crop of interesting models due to be launched this new year will see some of the exciting new entrants appearing on our roads and into the Top Ten for 2024. For 2023 overall, the UK’s top ten best-selling cars were made up of the following;

1. Ford Puma

With 49,591 registrations, the Puma was the only Ford to make the UK’s top ten sales chart last year, the Dearborn/former-Dagenham car maker really feeling the loss of the previously best-selling Fiesta range during 2023, with the once popular Focus also falling from favour too, despite the model still being sold, albeit in only ICE form. As if to prove that some things ever change though, the Ford Transit remained top to the pile of the UK’s best-selling vans in ‘23, as it has done for countless years.

2. Nissan Qashqai

The best-selling British-built car in 2023, with 43,321 sales, the pioneering crossover Qashqai fell from its number one sales position of 2022 but still proved to be immensely popular, especially with private retail buyers.

3. Vauxhall Corsa

The loss of the rival Ford Fiesta during 2023 really helped Vauxhall to shift 40,816 of its B-class Corsa models. An improved facelifted version is just entering British Vauxhall showrooms now, including EV versions, so Corsa demand should remain strong throughout 2024.

4. Kia Sportage

The thought of a Kia featuring among the UK’s top five sellers would have been unimaginable until recently, but not any more, as the South Korean car maker has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years. Kia sold 36,135 Sportages here in 2023.

5. Tesla Model Y

Down from third place in ’22, the Tesla Model Y is overdue a facelift, as per the welcome recent changes made to the popular Model 3 saloon.

6. Hyundai Tucson

A total of 34,469 Tucsons found new buses in 2023.

7. MINI Hatchback

With the new fourth-generation MINI Hatchback waiting in the wings for launch shortly (primarily in EV form), the outgoing model did well on run out to attract 33,385 new owners.

8. Nissan Juke

Although it slipped down the UK best-sellers chart last year, the funky Juke crossover remains a popular choice, with 31,745 new examples registered in 2023.

9. Audi A3

Audi’s small premium hatch A3 outsold its Volkswagen Golf sibling (on which it is based) for the very first time in the UK in 2023 with 30,159 sales.

10. Vauxhall Mokka

Unlike arch-rival Ford, Vauxhall managed to gain two entries into the UK Top Ten best sellers chart for 2023 with 29,984 examples of the Mokka sold.

This year we can look forward to seeing the introduction of the revived (all-electric) Renault 5 (and its exciting performance Alpine A290 derivative, plus the reinvented Renault 4), plus the afore-mentioned new MINI, the MG Cyberster two-seater roadster and new MG 3 hatchback, the new Fiat Topolino and Panda, new Citroen C3, new Skoda Octavia, the international reintroduction of the Lancia marque, new BMW X2/iX2, the svelte Lotus Emeya prestige saloon, the Karma Ocean and GS-6, the controversial new Tesla Cybertruck, dozens of as yet unknown Chinese EV brands and so on