If you\u2019ve glanced at car news lately, you\u2019ll know the market has been a bit of a rollercoaster. One month EV sales surge, the next the headlines claim \u201cbuyers are turning back to petrol\u201d, and somewhere in the middle, someone is convinced petrol cars will be banned next Tuesday and we\u2019ll all be riding electric scooters run by AI forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this month, we\u2019ve cut through the noise.
No hype. No tribalism. Just a clear picture of what\u2019s actually happening – and how it might affect your next car. We\u2019ve dug through the latest SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders) stats to see what\u2019s really going on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\ud83d\ude97 New Car Market: The Big Shift That\u2019s Actually Happening<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s start with the basics: more than half of all new cars sold in recent months have been electrified<\/strong>, meaning hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or fully electric. Petrol is still the single biggest chunk, but it\u2019s shrinking steadily, and diesel continues to fade into the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s the real headline though:<\/strong> The key point: electrification isn\u2019t a fad, but petrol isn\u2019t disappearing next Tuesday either<\/strong>. Anyone telling you otherwise is selling something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83d\udd0c So\u2026 Are EVs Back? Yes, but not in the way social media says.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The interesting bit is how EV buying behaviour is changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a big jump in electric registrations during the plate-change month – no surprise there, fleets always buy in bulk. But the momentum continued into the following month too. Not a spike, not a crash\u2026 just slow, sustained growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s driving it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n But – and this is the important bit – people aren\u2019t abandoning petrol or hybrids. Instead, the market is diversifying<\/strong>. Different drivers want different things, and finally the car market is providing those options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s actually good news for anyone buying a car in the next 12\u201324 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83d\udd01 Used Car Market: The Part Nobody Talks About (But Should)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where things get really interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the SMMT, the used market is having its strongest run since before the pandemic. Stock is flowing again, prices are calming down, and choice is finally returning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But here\u2019s the standout stat: Why does this matter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because the second-hand market is where most<\/em> of us actually buy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Put simply: the used EV market is finally behaving like a normal<\/strong> used-car market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not hype. Not panic. Just a maturing product entering its natural lifecycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83e\udded So What Does All This Mean for Your Next Car?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s the useful bit – the reason we wrote this article in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1\ufe0f<\/strong>\u20e3 Petrol is safe – but its dominance is fading<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want petrol, you\u2019re still spoilt for choice. But the long-term trend is clear: each year, its share quietly erodes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That doesn\u2019t mean avoid petrol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2\ufe0f<\/strong>\u20e3 Hybrids are the quiet winners<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hybrids continue to sell strongly because they\u2019re the comfortable middle ground. They\u2019ll likely remain a safe bet for years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want predictability, hybrids deliver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3\ufe0f<\/strong>\u20e3 EVs are settling into reality – not hype<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n They\u2019re no longer for early adopters only. If you can charge at home, EV running costs are still hard to match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \ud83d\udccc The Bottom Line<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s no doubt the market is changing – but not in the dramatic, apocalyptic way the headlines sometimes suggest. Your petrol car isn\u2019t about to turn into a worthless antique, and your EV isn\u2019t going to explode or become an expensive paperweight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This transition is happening slowly, over years and decades, and we still don\u2019t know exactly what shape it will settle at. And that\u2019s fine. Because for once, the market is doing something sensible: it\u2019s giving us more choice, not less.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Petrol, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, fully electric – they all still have a place. Different drivers want different things, and right now, the industry is big enough to cater for all of them. You don\u2019t need to panic-buy the \u201cright\u201d fuel type or avoid the \u201cwrong\u201d one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The real takeaway? <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" And what it means for your next car\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vehicle-ownership-help"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/know-yourcar.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Battery electric cars took around a quarter of all new registrations in October (25.4%)<\/strong>, their strongest showing in almost a year, helped by discounts, more affordable models and the return of government grants. But petrol is still comfortably in front at about 44% of the market<\/strong>, so this is a steady tide rather than a tidal wave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Used EV sales jumped more than 40% recently, hitting their highest-ever share at around 4% of all used car sales – roughly one in every 25 cars changing hands.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Prices are dropping. Used stock is rising. Charging is improving. Grants have returned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Buy the car that fits the way you<\/em> live. The rest of the market will take a very long time to catch up – and by then, the choice will probably be even better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n New-car market data:<\/strong>
\n \n SMMT \u2013 Car Registration Data (October 2025)\n <\/a>
\n \n SMMT \u2013 September new car market delivers record number of EVs\n <\/a>
\n\n Used-car market data:<\/strong>
\n \n SMMT \u2013 Used EV market enjoys record uptake as one in 25 buyers switch over summer\n <\/a>
\n \n SMMT \u2013 Used car market bounces back to pre-pandemic level in first half\n <\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n