The U.K. has hit peak petrol when it comes to cars according to Auto Trader’s latest economic survey out today which predicts the number of petrol cars on the road tumbling by almost half over the next decade
The vehicle trader magazine says that the Number of EVs in UK car are set to soar from 1.25m in 2024 to 13.7m over the next 10 years
The decline of petrol-powered cars comes amid increased affordability in the used EV market and price parity between electric and conventionally powered vehicles.
According to Auto Trader’s data, one in three used EVs are priced under £20,000 (a 25% increase on 2023) while a growing number of three-to-five year-old EVs cost the same, or less, than their petrol or diesel counterparts. As a result, these ‘middle-aged’ electrics are selling in just 19 days – 11 days faster than the overall average.
Auto Trader predicts that the new car market will remain just under the 2 million car level next year, rising 2% to 1.98 million as manufacturers and retailers face a challenging combination of stricter regulatory targets, uncertain brand loyalty, and tougher competition between brands as new entrants like China’s BYD compete with traditional players.
While marking a third consecutive year of growth, the 2% increase would still leave the 2025 new car market 14% below the 2.31m new car registrations recorded in prepandemic 2019, as manufacturers rely on heavy discounting to encourage buyers.
The share of the new car market taken by EVs is set to rise from around18% in 2024 to 23% next year. This remains some way below the 28% target for sales under the Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate, which increases from 22% this year.
The used car market is expected to maintain the strong growth momentum of the last two years and rise from an estimated 7.61m sales this year to around 7.70m. Despite the political instability of a general election and a challenging economic backdrop, used car demand remained extremely resilient this year, as reflected in the 970.6m visits to Auto Trader over the last 12 months, up 74m on 2023. The predicted 2025 growth means the market will be within just 3% of pre-pandemic volumes.
