NEW CAR SALES 2018

The UK new car market has taken a tumble this year, down 6.9% over the first 11 months of 2017, with diesel engines hit particularly hard – having been given a bad marker by the Government in the early part of 2018, many motorists have turned back to petrol. With countless challenging debates about diesel engines, many are wondering if diesel engines have a place in our cities. This has caused some headaches for the manufacturers, leaving huge numbers of newly-made diesels unable to find buyers. Recently, we’ve also seen huge increases in diesel fuel prices compared to petrol at the forecourts – diesel today is around 10p per litre dearer than unleaded.

However, what’s perhaps most striking is the rise in sales of alternativelyfuelled vehicles (AFVS), as the graph from the SMMT shows below.