New Car Registrations MoM

New Car Registrations MoM measures the month on month change, versus the prior month, in new UK car registrations. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the UK motor industry body, compiles it as a census count, a full count with no sampling. The records sit in the Motor Vehicle Registration Information System, a database of new cars registered with the DVLA, the UK licensing agency.

It covers dealer-network and direct sales of cars and commercial vehicles under 6 tonnes, cleansed by validation checks before release. It excludes used deals, factory output, motorcycles and farm vehicles, and mixes buyer types.

Counts cover every new car registered during one full calendar month, and each release covers the preceding calendar month. Figures appear on the fourth working day of the month at 09:00 UK clock time, with light commercial vehicle registrations (LCV) following at 11:00. Each release brings commentary plus tables by fuel, buyer type, brand and model, with market shares and year to date totals. Pre-registration figures come out separately, while manufacturing data follows later in the month and bus, coach, truck and used-car data comes quarterly.

Initial figures are preliminary and later finalised on a stated date. Monthly data shows short shifts and seasonal changes, while year to date data shows broader performance. It is a key indicator of market demand, economic trends and consumer behaviour.

Headline moves reflect buyer mix and fuel mix, not private demand alone, and shares are recomputed each month from that month's counts.

• Buyer type (fleet, private and business registrations): Fleet demand comes from companies with 25 or more vehicles and usually takes the largest share. Private means cars bought by individuals, and business means companies with fewer than 25 vehicles.
• Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV): Fully electric cars with zero tailpipe emissions, tracking electrification.
• Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV): Cars with battery plus engine that plug in, marking transition.
• Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV): Cars with engine plus electric power charged by engine and braking, not pluggable.
• Petrol and Diesel: Conventional fuels including mild hybrids, small electric assist folded into these totals.
• Brand and model tables: Manufacturer and model rankings showing market composition for the month.

Releases of September 5, 2024 and October 4, 2024 show the plate swing. August 2024 brought 84,575 units, down 1.3% year on year, as buyers waited for September plates. September 2024 brought 275,239 units, up 1.0% year on year, implying a 225.4% rise versus August from plate seasonality alone.

Fleet orders rose 3.7% to 149,095 for a 54.2% share while private demand fell 1.8% to 120,272 and business fell 8.4%, so fleets carried growth. Battery electrics hit a record 56,387, up 24.4% for a 20.5% share. Over three quarters (75.9%) went to fleets, while private electric orders added just 410 cars. Petrol and diesel still took 56.4% together, so read fleet, private and fuel splits, not plate jumps alone.

1. Monthly count: Count every new car registered with the DVLA in the calendar month into the database. Write U(m) for total units in month m.
2. Cleansing: Cleanse the file through SMMT process validations to improve accuracy before release. No sampling, weighting or seasonal adjustment applies.
3. Total: Sum all fuel, buyer type and brand segments to get the headline total. No weighting step applies.
4. Percentage change: Subtract base units from new units, divide by base units and multiply by 100, with prior month as base for MoM. August 84,575 to September 275,239 gives 225.4%, pure plate seasonality, while September rose only 1.0% versus a year earlier.
5. Market share: Divide segment units by total units and multiply by 100, recomputed each month from that month's counts. For example, 56,387 battery electrics divided by 275,239 total gives 20.5%.