EVs Take 35.5% Share Of The UK – BYD Atto 2 Launches

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September noticed plugin EVs take 35.5% share of the UK auto market, up from 29.4% year-on-year. BEVs grew in quantity by 29% YoY, whereas PHEVs grew 56%. Total auto quantity was 312,891 items, up some 14% YoY. Tesla was the UK’s main BEV model for the month.

September’s gross sales totals noticed mixed plugin EVs take 35.5% share of the UK auto market, with full electrics (BEVs) taking 23.3%, and plugin hybrids (PHEVs) taking 12.2%. These examine with YoY shares of 29.4% mixed, 20.5% BEV, and eight.9% PHEV.

The reintroduction of BEV buy incentives, though bungled, could now be giving a lift to BEV gross sales at cheaper price factors inside the value cap. For the reason that July introduction was messy, there was appreciable hold-back of purchases, so we could also be seeing a concomitant rebound now. In that case, the market will take a pair extra months to settle.

There’s a increased “Band 1” incentive (£3,750) which solely the Ford Puma and Ford E-Torneo are eligible for. Different fashions get the decrease “Band 2” quantity of £1,500. These embody a number of Stellantis vehicles, some Renaults, some VW Group MEB vehicles, and a few Japanese fashions. You possibly can test the complete record right here.

However what’s the value cap for eligibility? Initially, the UK authorities stated that the value cap was £37,000. However – presumably after strain from some producers (e.g. Toyota) – they elevated the cap to £42,000 in August. Not by coincidence, the elevated cap now accommodates the Toyota BZ4X (UK beginning value £41,595). Recall that UK taxes classify vehicles over £40,000 as topic to the “luxurious tax”… so how does this elevating of the motivation cap to £42,000 make any sense ?

Provided that we all know that compelling BEVs might be made for nicely below £25,000, maybe that needs to be the cap – to encourage extra competitors on the inexpensive finish of the market (which might additionally pull down costs within the above segments). The grant might be a modest £1,000 at costs <£25,000 and enhance by £200 for every £1000 decrease MSRP. Thus an incentive of £2,000 at <£20,000, and £3,000 for MSRPs below £15,000.

This sounds rational and would assist the mass-market segments, however on the planet of UK politics, the place firms, the monetary class, politicians, and the remainder of the ruling class schmooze collectively, this isn’t going to occur. The precise authorities scheme will not be designed primarily to assist struggling customers, it’s designed primarily to assist defend the short-term earnings of rent-seeking legacy auto makers and their shareholders.

Greatest-Promoting Manufacturers

With their typical end-of-quarter push, Tesla led the BEV manufacturers in September with 10.9% market share. Ford got here second with 9.1%, and BYD got here in third with 7.5%.

Ford has stepped up its recreation in 2025, taking the second spot a number of instances, sometimes behind Volkswagen (when Tesla was having its quiet months). That is the primary time Ford has overtaken Volkswagen, albeit to come back second in a Tesla-heavy month. Let’s see whether or not Ford would possibly take the highest spot in October or November.

Likewise, BYD has stepped up this yr, typically within the prime 10, and taking a file third place in September. This success is helped by BYD’s big selection of segments and value factors, with 6 distinct fashions, from the Dolphin Surf on the inexpensive finish, by way of to the Sealion within the D/E section.

The Sealion was inside the highest 10 best-selling fashions in September, with over 1,800 items. I don’t have clear knowledge for the Dolphin Surf, however it could have bought roughly 500 items.

BYD additionally debuted a brand new mannequin in September, the BYD Atto 2, a B/C section SUV (4,310 mm size). The Atto 2 registered 211 preliminary items, a good begin. It comes with both a forty five.1 kWh or 58 kWh (usable) LFP battery choice, with WLTP vary of 214 miles and 267 miles respectively. 10-80% charging takes simply 25 minutes on the bigger battery model, and 37 minutes on the smaller battery. Worth begins from £30,850 for the smaller battery, and £34,950 for the bigger battery.

One other debutant was the Suzuki Vitara, which noticed 18 preliminary registrations. The unique Vitara has been round for many years as worth and dependable compact SUV with AWD, and now is available in a BEV model (with a really comparable measurement to the Atto 2, above).

Sadly, not solely is Suzuki late to the EV transition, however the Vitara is in truth a rebadged clone of the Toyota City Cruiser (which is about to launch within the subsequent couple of months). On the plus facet, the pricing begins at £29,999 for the 47.8 kWh (usable) entry model (214 miles WLTP), and £32,999 for the 59.8 kWh (265 miles WLTP). Costlier variants with AWD are additionally out there. Charging speeds are sluggish (45+ minutes), so this isn’t the very best car for frequent road-trippers.

The final debutant in September was the Mercedes CLA sedan, which noticed a powerful 770 registrations proper out of the gate. I’ve lined the CLA elsewhereit’s mainly a Tesla Mannequin 3 competitor with barely increased pricing and far quicker charging. It ought to show standard within the UK market.

Of the not too long ago launched BEV fashions, the Ford Puma is doing nicely, with over 2,300 items in September, probably within the prime 3 best-selling fashions (our knowledge supply, the UK DVLA will not be fairly exact/full sufficient to know the precise gross sales numbers). The brand new MG IM5 and IM6 siblings scored round 130 and 150 items respectively. The marginally older MG S5 can be doing nicely, with over 1,200 gross sales in September, nearly double its earlier finest (July).

The XPeng G6 had its finest ever month, with over 270 items. Lastly, the brand new Vauxhall Frontera, which simply launched in August, is already doing very nicely, with round 500 items in September (and vying with the Peugeot 208 to be Stellantis’ prime vendor within the UK).

Turning to the small-and-affordable segments – the Dacia Spring is doing nice, with ~830 items bought in September. It may be discovered from as little as £12,000 (vendor gives), making it the UK’s most inexpensive automobile (of any powertrain). The truth is, solely the Leapmotor T03 comes shut (gives from £13,989), as the most cost effective ICE vehicles price from £15,000 and above. After all, the T03 can be a preferred BEV, promoting round 310 items in September. Briefly – entry BEVs are actually capable of undercut entry ICE autos (Kia Picanto, Dacia Sandero, MG3, Seat Arona) of their “road” pricing.

Curiously, the Dacia Spring, which went on sale in October 2024, can be retaining its worth fairly nicely. Essentially the most inexpensive second-hand Spring within the UK is at present round £9,900 (3 or 4 examples at this value level). House owners clearly love them and are maintaining maintain of them, limiting provide. We regularly hear the narrative that BEVs have excessive depreciation, however this solely happens with BEV that are overpriced to start with. BEVs that are priced sensibly from the outset, retain their worth very nicely – attributable to providing doubtlessly a long time of dependable and low running-cost private transport. This isn’t one thing ICE autos are capable of provide, attributable to gasoline costs and mechanical points with age.

A fast September rating of the small-and-affordable BEVs exhibits the Renault 5 within the lead (~870 items), adopted by the Dacia Spring (~830 items), Hyundai Inster (~700 items), probably then the BYD Dolphin Surf (round 500 items, however the DVLA knowledge is obscure), the Citroen e-C3 (~400 items), and the Leamotor T03 (310 items). The brand new Renault 4, which has solely not too long ago appeared within the UK, noticed over 80 items in September and can continue to grow.

Let’s flip to the 3-month chart:

Tesla is main, with 9.8% share of the UK BEV market, and Ford is now in second with 8.7%, solidly forward of Volkswagen (7.8%). That is the primary time that Ford has overtaken VW within the 3-month chart, and it climbed up from 4th in Q2. That is largely due to the large reputation of the brand new Puma BEV, and partly as a result of VW have been slacking up not too long ago.

Additional again, BYD has climbed to 4th, from eighth in Q2, and Mercedes climbed to seventh, from thirteenth in Q2. In the meantime BMW and Skoda dropped barely, although inside regular variation.

BMW might be hoping that their upcoming neue klasse platform will enhance them again near the highest within the UK, and I count on these fashions will certainly be comparatively standard.

Outlook

The ZEV mandate is working, and the grants are serving to considerably (although primarily serving to the earnings of legacy auto).

The UK macroeconomy stays unremarkable with headline figures of 1.2% YoY GDP progressas of the most recent Q2 knowledge. The actual financial system that many individuals expertise daily is harder than these figures recommend. Headline inflation has remained flat at 3.8% since July. BOE rates of interest have remained at 4.0% since early August to 4.0%. Manufacturing PMI dropped to 46.2 factors in September, from 47 factors in August.

What are you anticipating from the transition within the UK for the remainder of this yr? Which fashions or manufacturers will climb within the months forward? Please share your ideas and views within the feedback under.