THE UK new car market has hit the half year million motors mark for the first time in five years, after new car registrations rose in June by 1.1 per cent to reach 179,263 units, according to new figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

As a result, so far in 2024, 1,006,763 new cars have been registered, up 6.0 per cent on the previous year but still down 20.7 per cent on 2019.

June's market growth was driven primarily by the fleet sector, where uptake rose by 14.2 per cent, while private retail demand fell for the ninth consecutive month, down 15.3 per cent.

Retail buyers accounted for fewer than four in 10 new cars registered at 37.7 per cent.

Electrified vehicle uptake continued to grow robustly in June, with plug-in hybrid volumes up 30.0 per cent to reach a 9.3 per cent market share, while hybrid electric vehicles rose 27.2 per cent to achieve 14.9 per cent of the market.

Both powertrains also outpaced battery electric vehicle growth, which rose 7.4 per cent but took its highest monthly share this year, accounting for 19.0 per cent of all new vehicle registrations.

The UK's zero emission transition - and the ability of manufacturers to meet the requirements of the Vehicle Emissions Trading Scheme - currently relies on the fleet sector as private consumer uptake continues to soften.

Private BEV uptake has fallen 10.8 per cent year to date, with fewer than one in five new BEVs going to private buyers.

Overall, BEVs now comprise 16.6 per cent of the new car market so far this year, slightly above the 16.1 per cent achieved in the same period last year, with uptake behind the levels mandated by government.

The automotive industry is calling on the new government to provide greater support to the consumer on the journey to zero emission mobility.

Re-instating fiscal incentives for the private consumer by way of a halving of VAT on BEVs for three years would re-energise the market, putting an additional 300,000 private BEVs - rather than petrol or diesel cars - on the road over the next three year, on top of current outlooks.

This would help ensure that in 2035, half of all cars in use would be zero emission, cutting road transport CO2 emissions by 175 million tonnes between now and then.

Vehicle Excise Duty plans should also be revised so zero emission vehicles are classed as essential rather than "luxury" vehicles, by amending the ‘expensive car' supplement due to be applied from next April.

In addition, public charge point use could be made fairer by reducing VAT from 20 per cent to 5 per cent, in line with home charging - a move that would support ZEV uptake and send the right message to consumers.

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: "The year's midpoint sees the new car market in its best state since 2021 - but this belies the bigger challenge ahead. The private consumer market continues to shrink against a difficult economic backdrop, but with the right policies in place, the next government can re-energise the market and deliver a faster, fairer zero emission transition.

"All parties are agreed on the need to cut carbon and replacing older fossil fuel based technologies with new electrified powertrains is the essential step to achieving that goal."

So far this year the top seller has been the Ford Puma with 26,374 models registered up to the end of June followed by the Kia Sportage at 24,139, the Nissan Qashqai at 22,881, the Nissan Juke at 19,429 and the Audi A3 at 19,209.

Other models in the top 10 included the BMW 1 Series (17,587), the MG HS (16,730) and the Hyundai Tucson (16,182).