The landscape of leading car brands in Britain is looking different with the arrival of more pure electric cars… says Robin Roberts (and WheelsWithinWales)
Traditional market leading brands are taking a back seat as manufacturers who were among the first to “go-electric” are making big inroads among motorists and businesses seeking to “go-green” and the Skoda Enyaq was top BEV.
SMMT statistics for all new car registrations in October, released a few days ago show the top ten were: Kia Sportage, Ford Puma, Mini Cooper, Volvo XC40, VW Tiguan, Ford Kuga, Toyota Yaris, Nissan Qashqai, MG HS and Peugeot 208. But it’s a completely different table of pure BEVs.
Petrol and diesel versions in the ranges have seen a tailing off of takers and more customers are ordering electric models, either fully electric, plug-in hybrids or mild hybrids, helped by big buying incentives from manufacturers facing severe financial penalties if they do not hit UK Government targets of 22% EVs this year.
The SMMT said customers have been able to buy some new BEVs at or below the price of petrol equivalent cars.
The pure battery electric models are growing in number as the industry slowly switches towards a zero emissions future in the next decade and we will see more Chinese brands coming to the UK, with or without paying tariffs which the EU has decided they must to protect sales of domestic brands which have not caught up with the investments needed to move into BEVs in large numbers.
Below are the top ten pure electric models and you can see Kia, MINI, Nissan and Toyota are not included but Skoda head the table, Mercedes has two models in the top ten, Tesla has one and sometimes appears in the all-makes monthly figures, while Ford has a big Explorer SUV and not its sportier Mustang. Vauxhall and Citroën are nowhere to be seen in the BEV battalion.
The most popular pure electric cars registered in the UK in October, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders were:
Skoda Enyaq
VW ID4
Mercedes EQA
Audi Q4 E-Tron
MG 4
Mercedes EQB
Peugeot 3008
Hyundai Kona
Tesla Model Y
Ford Explorer
As manufacturers gradually move out of petrol and diesel markets in the UK we will see more BEVs in the mix and this top ten of zero-emissions models will dramatically change.
It could, however, include less familiar Chinese names such as Omoda, Chery, BYD, Nio, Aiways, XPeng, Geely and HiPhi, Lynk. MG is Chinese owned by SAIC since 2007 and Lotus and Volvo are owned by Geely, which also took over the Coventry-based London Black Cab company.
Vauxhall parent Stellantis has acquired a sizeable stake in China’s Leapmotor company so expect that to manifest itself in cheap small cars in a few years too.
