Automotive News – Early January 2025
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Electric van demand static in 2024 despite biggest overall market in three years.
- Number of new light commercial vehicles joining UK roads up 3.0% to 351,834 units in 2024.
- More demand for new vans but fewer 4x4s and pick-ups registered as double-cab tax hike looms.
- 2024 EV share static at 6.3% despite near 20% uplift in choice of zero emission models.
- Review of regulation must urgently reflect van-specific barriers to growing EV uptake.
The UK’s new light commercial vehicle (LCV) market rose by 3.0% to surpass 350,000 registrations in 2024, according to the latest figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). A robust December with 27,221 new LCVs registered rounded off a total of 351,834 new vans, pick-ups and 4x4s across the year – making 2024 the best year of fleet renewal since 2021.
Record EV market share but weak private demand frustrates ambition.
- New car registrations reach 1.953 million in 2024 with market up 2.6% year on year.
- EVs take record annual volume and market share at 19.6%, but figure still below mandated levels.
- Private consumer demand contracts to levels last seen in pandemic with just one in 10 private buyers going electric in 2024.
- Industry welcomes review of mandate regulation but warns current demand will not deliver ambition without government support.
The UK new car market recorded its second successive year of growth with 1,952,778 new cars reaching the road in 2024 – a rise of 2.6% on the previous year, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). In the final month of the year, the market remained flat at 140,786 units, a marginal -0.2% decline, capping off a challenging year for the sector as manufacturers strove to create demand for electric vehicles in a bid to meet new mandated sales targets.
CV output dips in November with strategy needed to secure long-term growth.
- UK commercial vehicle production dips -4.1% in November compared with a strong 2023.
- Volume of vans, trucks, buses and taxis heading for UK sale falls -3.2% as exports drop -4.4%.
- 2024 output remains 5.6% up with the largest year-to-date volume since 2008.
- Sustained success depends on ambitious Industrial Strategy with £50 billion green growth potential.
UK commercial vehicle (CV) output dipped for the second month in a row in November, down -4.1% with 12,749 units leaving factories, according to the latest figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The decline is in comparison with a particularly strong 2023, which saw the biggest November volume in 17 years.
Car manufacturing down in November as sector seeks an easing of cost pressures.
- UK car production falls -30.1% in November with 64,216 units rolling off factory lines.
- Output for domestic and export markets decline -56.7% and -21.3% respectively.
- Year to date volumes down -12.9% to 734,562 units with 258,938 electrified vehicles produced.
UK car production fell -30.1% in November, the ninth consecutive month of decline, according to the latest figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). 64,216 cars rolled off factory lines, 27,711 fewer than in November last year, due to a combination of factors, including strategic product decisions, weakness in key global markets, calendarisation and the fact that production grew significantly in November 2023 as Covid-related supply chain challenges faded.
Honda and Nissan are understood to have held exploratory talks about a potential merger to help them compete against electric vehicle (EV) makers, particularly in China.
In March, the two Japanese car makers agreed to explore a strategic partnership for EVs.
The firms responded to the BBC with identical statements, which said: “As announced in March of this year, Honda and Nissan are exploring various possibilities for future collaboration, leveraging each other’s strengths.” It comes as many car brands grapple with growing competition as the industry shifts from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric, with production in China booming.
On Christmas eve, the Department for Transport opened a much-anticipated consultation on whether plans to end the sale of new pure petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030 should be tweaked. It will run until 18 February.
The consultation stipulates that the Government wants to reinstate the 2030 date for cars after it was rolled back to 2035 but may allow some hybrid vans to be sold between 2030 and 2035.
Luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce will expand its Goodwood factory and global headquarters to meet the growing demand for bespoke models. It will invest more than £300 million so it can build more highly customised versions of its cars for its super-rich clientele.
The 120-year-old British brand came under full control of German carmaker BMW in 2003 and officially opened the site in West Sussex the same year. Rolls Royce says this expansion secures its future in the UK. Rolls-Royce sold 5,712 cars in 2024, down from its record of 6,032 in 2023. While those numbers may seem tiny compared with the millions of cars delivered each year by mainstream manufacturers, Rolls-Royce operates in a highly rarefied market.
BT Group has announced the UK’s largest-ever commercial electric vehicle (EV) fleet order, placing an order for around 3,500 new EVs which it claims is the largest in the nation to date.
The new EVs are part of a larger order for 6,000 vehicles, more than half of which will be electric. The fleet upgrade will provide BT Group’s engineers with the latest energy-efficient, sustainable vehicles, enhancing their ability to build and maintain the company’s next-generation broadband and mobile networks. The new EVs will be supplied by Ford, Stellantis, Toyota and Renault over the next two years.
Third quarter sales volumes for luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) showed an improvement on the second quarter which was impacted by supply disruption. The manufacturer suffered a temporary aluminium supply constraint which restricted production in the quarter, to September 30, 2024.
The group, which has plants in Halewood, Merseyside, and at Castle Bromwich and Solihull in the West Midlands, has published its sales for the three-month period to December 31, 2024.
Amazon has confirmed its largest order of electric heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) to date, with 148 set to be added across its UK-based transportation network over the next 18 months.
The e-commerce giant has placed an order for eight Volvo FM Battery Electric trucks and more than 140 new electric Mercedes-Benz Truck eActros 600 trucks. The Volvo model boasts a range of up to 300 km per charge while the Mercedes’s range is almost 500km – it is classed as having ‘ultra-long distance’ capabilities.