06 / Market & trends

What people
actually drive.

Which cars are popular right now, which brands are winning, where cars are built, and how fast the switch from petrol to electric is really happening. Hover any chart for the exact numbers.

2.02MNew cars registered in the UK in 2025, the most since 2019

23.4%Share of UK new cars that were fully electric in 2025

1in 4New cars sold worldwide in 2025 that plug in (IEA)

92.5MVehicles built worldwide in 2024, a third of them in China

Petrol vs electric in the UK

Share of new cars sold each year by fuel type. Diesel has collapsed since the 2015 "Dieselgate" scandal, and electric cars went from almost nothing to nearly a quarter of the market in seven years.

FIG. 06.1UK new-car market share by fuel type, %

PetrolDieselHybrid (HEV)Plug-in hybridElectric (BEV)

SourceSMMT

Show as table

Year	Petrol	Diesel	Hybrid (HEV)	Plug-in hybrid	Electric (BEV)
2018	62.3%	31.7%	3.4%	1.9%	0.7%
2019	66%	26.6%	4.2%	1.5%	1.6%
2020	62.7%	19.8%	6.7%	4.1%	6.6%
2021	58.3%	14.2%	8.9%	7%	11.6%
2022	55.9%	9.6%	11.6%	6.3%	16.6%
2023	56%	7.5%	12.6%	7.4%	16.5%
2024	52.2%	6.3%	13.4%	8.6%	19.6%
2025	46.4%	5.1%	13.9%	11.1%	23.4%

Petrol is still number one

Just under half of new cars are pure petrol or mild-hybrid petrol, and almost all used cars on sale are petrol.

Diesel fell off a cliff

From 1 in 3 new cars in 2018 to about 1 in 20 in 2025, after emissions scandals, clean-air zones and higher taxes.

Electric is the growth story

The UK's ZEV mandate requires a rising share of electric sales each year. New pure petrol and diesel cars stop being sold in 2030, hybrids in 2035.

FIG. 06.2ZEV mandate target vs actual electric share of UK new cars

Mandate targetActual electric share

SourceGOV.UK · SMMT

The world goes electric & interactive charging simulator

Electric cars (battery and plug-in hybrid) as a share of all new cars sold globally. Below the global charts, use the interactive simulator to explore why rapid chargers taper above 80% SoC and how UK home vs public charging costs compare.

FIG. 06.3Electric share of new cars sold worldwide

SourceIEA

Electric share of new cars, 2025

01 China 55%

02 UK (BEV+PHEV) 34.5%

03 Europe 28%

04 World 25%

05 United States 10%

More than half of all new cars sold in China in 2025 were electric. The US was just under 10%. The UK figure here counts battery and plug-in hybrid cars together.

Britain's most popular cars, 2025

The ten best-selling new cars in the UK last year. Notice how many are crossovers (hatchbacks on stilts).

01 Ford Puma 55,4882.7%

02 Kia Sportage 47,7882.4%

03 Nissan Qashqai 41,1412.0%

04 Vauxhall Corsa 35,9471.8%

05 Nissan Juke 34,7731.7%

06 Volkswagen Golf 32,4781.6%

07 Volvo XC40 30,4041.5%

08 MG HS 30,1911.5%

09 Volkswagen Tiguan 29,8571.5%

10 Hyundai Tucson 28,6131.4%

Number one, three years running

Ford Puma

SMALL CROSSOVER · MILD-HYBRID PETROL OR ELECTRIC

Built in Romania and sold as a stylish, compact crossover. It replaced the Fiesta as Ford's best-seller and has topped UK sales in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Britain's best-seller through the decades

1960sFord Anglia / BMC 1100Cheap family transport for a newly car-owning Britain.

1970sFord CortinaThe definitive company car and family saloon of the decade.

1980sFord EscortFront-wheel drive arrives for the mainstream.

1990sFord Escort & FiestaSuperminis take over the school run and first-car market.

2000sFord FocusSet new standards for how a family hatch should drive.

2010sFord FiestaBritain's best-seller every year from 2009 until 2020.

2020sVauxhall Corsa → Ford PumaThe crossover era: the Puma topped the charts in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The brands Brits buy

Top 15 brands by UK new-car registrations in 2025, out of 2.02 million. Volkswagen has led for years; Chinese-owned MG is now in the top 10.

01 Volkswagen 8.8%178,607

02 BMW 6.1%122,723

03 Ford 5.9%118,998

04 Kia 5.6%113,436

05 Audi 5.5%111,115

06 Hyundai 4.6%93,124

07 Toyota 4.5%90,126

08 Nissan 4.5%90,102

09 Mercedes-Benz 4.4%89,267

10 MG 4.2%85,155

11 Skoda 4.1%83,304

12 Peugeot 4.1%83,044

13 Vauxhall 4.1%81,921

14 Volvo 3.4%68,776

15 Renault 3.2%65,537

The world's biggest car makers

Global sales by car-making group in 2025 (millions). Groups own several brands; for example Hyundai Motor Group includes Kia and Genesis, and Geely owns Volvo, Polestar and Lotus.

01 Toyota Group 11.32M

02 Volkswagen Group 8.98M

03 Hyundai Motor Group 7.24M

04 Stellantis 5.51M

05 BYD 4.60M

06 General Motors 4.55M

07 Ford 4.40M

08 Geely 4.17M

09 Honda 3.46M

10 Suzuki 3.30M

Notice: two Chinese groups, BYD and Geely, are now in the world's top 10. Five years ago neither was close.

Where cars are built

Vehicle production by country in 2024. Each cube is two million vehicles, and the top cube is cut to size so every column is exact. China builds roughly as many as the next five countries combined.

FIG. 06.4Vehicle production by country, 2024, millions

SourceOICA

From raw material to your driveway

How the car industry fits together, from steel and lithium to the road.

You and the road

About 34 million cars are licensed in the UK. The average car is around 9 years old and lasts 14 years or more.

DEALERS & ONLINE
LEASING & FINANCE
USED MARKET (≈7M SALES/YR)

The car makers

A handful of global groups design cars and assemble them, often sharing platforms across many brands.

DESIGN & ENGINEERING
PRESS, BODY, PAINT, ASSEMBLY
ONE CAR EVERY ~60 SECONDS PER LINE

Suppliers & materials

Thousands of suppliers make the ~30,000 parts. EV batteries add lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite.

STEEL & ALUMINIUM
CHIPS & ELECTRONICS
BATTERY CELLS
TYRES, GLASS, PLASTICS

Sources

Figures are rounded. Mild hybrids are counted inside petrol and diesel, as SMMT reports them.