Electric car sales rose by 24 per cent in October from a year earlier to take more than one fifth of the new vehicle registrations market.
However, industry experts said that a 6 per cent drop in total sales of new cars over the month indicated that manufacturers were holding back petrol and diesel vehicles in an attempt to hit the government’s zero-emission targets and avoid large fines.
The latest statistics from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that new car registrations fell from 153,000 in October 2023 to 144,000 last month.
Pure electric cars were the only vehicle type showing growth, with the sale of zero-emission cars rising to just shy of 29,000 in October from 24,000 a year earlier to