Market for used plug-in vehicles stays strong in first quarter of 2021

Demand for used plug-in vehicles grew in the first quarter of 2021, with a 37.9% rise in transactions, the SMMT has shown.

Hybrid vehicles (HEV) rose 16.6% to 27,694 units, while plug-in hybrid (PHEVs) saw a 32.1% uplift to 10,534 units, and battery electric (BEVs) surged 48.3% to 6,564 sales.

However, the combined number of plug-in vehicles traded still represented only 1.0% of the market, up from 0.7% in Q1 2020. This illustrates the scale of the challenge ahead to transition the entire used car arena away from traditional fuels. Petrol and diesel powertrains combined represented 97.1% of all first quarter activity at 1,638,536 units.

Overall, the UK’s used car market declined -8.9% in the first quarter of 2021. Some 1,687,755 transactions took place, with the overall decline driven by large falls in January and February, of -27.1% and -19.4% respectively, as lockdown measures depressed demand and again closed car showrooms nationwide.

March saw the market show signs of recovery with a 32.2% year-on-year rise, amounting to 638,570 cars changing hands, although this compares with a weak March 2020 when the UK entered its first lockdown partway through the month. Compared with 2019, March was still down, -8.4%, and Q1 by -16.5% or 332,389 fewer transactions.