April was a historic month for the car industry, with fully-electric (EV) cars outselling diesels for the first time ever: 1,870 new EVs were registered compared to 1,748 diesels. This massive 16% increase in new car sales year-on-year has seen 67,018 new cars hit the roads since the start of 2021.
EVs now make up 16.6% of the new car market, while petrol and diesel cars have dropped to 32.85% and 22.3% respectively. Toyota remain the top-selling brand, with 9,451 registrations, followed by Volkswagen, Hyundai, and Skoda. The best-selling car of the year is the Hyundai Tucson, with 2,805 registrations, closely followed by the Kia Sportage and Toyota Corolla.
The VW ID.4 is the top-selling EV in 2021, with 1,713 registrations, and is closely followed by the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Tesla Model Y. Meanwhile, the car rental market has seen a huge surge in registrations, with 5,698 new cars registered this year, more than double last year’s figure. Leading the way is the Toyota C-HR, with 348 registrations, trailed by the Dacia Sandero and Nissan Qashqai. Just 100 of the car rental registrations have been EVs this year.
