You may be interested to read that the number of new cars sold in the UK in April 2023 has gone up once again. This is the ninth month in a row that this has happened and will please many operating in that sector.

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), in April 2023, the number of new cars registered amounted to 132,990 compared with 119,167 in April last year. That is a rise of 11.6% – a commendable performance.

On a year to date basis to April 2023, the number of new cars sold here in the UK came to 627,250 compared to 536,727 for the same period in 2022. That is a rise of 16.9% – again, a commendable performance.

It will probably not come as a surprise to taxi drivers to read that the number of new diesel fuelled cars sold has fallen. In April 2022 there were 6,725 sold whereas in April 2023 there were 5,825. That is a reduction of over 13%. Petrol fuelled new car sales in April 2022 stood at 54,633 compared to 56,885 in April 2023 – a small rise of just over 4%. Electric/ Hybrid/ Battery type new car sales in the main rose. On a year to date basis there was a similar pattern. To April 2022 the number of diesel fuelled new cars sold came to 30.411 whereas to April 2023 the figure was 25,477 – a drop of over 16%. New petrol car sales to April 2022 amounted to 232,402 compared to 267,444 – a rise of over 15%.

Top selling new cars in the UK on a year to date basis to April 2023 were: –

1. Vauxhall Corsa 14,034
2. Nissan Qashqai 13,611
3. Ford Puma 13,128
4. Kia Sportage 12,632
5. Nissan Juke 12,590

It would be interesting to know how many of the new cars sold in the UK are purchased by taxi drivers. In the current economic climate, it may be that a greater number of used cars are being bought by taxi drivers.