Last year saw UK new vehicle registrations pass the 3 million mark for the first time in a decade.
The DVLA recorded 3.21 M vehicles first registration, an 8% rise over 2014 and only 1% lower than the 2003 peak.
By the end of last year, nearly 30,000 ultra low emission vehicles were on roads for the first time, amounting to nearly 1%, or double the number in 12 months.
RAC spokesman Simon Williams said, “It is good to see uptake of ultra low emission vehicles (ULEVs) is increasing with a near-doubling of registrations in 12 months. ULEVs might still make up a very small proportion of overall new registrations – just under 1% – but this is 0.4% up year-on-year and is a clear indication of just how important this growing segment of the market is.
“While the Government’s plug-in grant scheme has been extended to 2018, the fact is one of the incentives for ‘going ultra low’ will actually be reduced from next year. Changes to Vehicle Excise Duty bands from 2017 will mean ULEVs will pay the same in duty after the first year of registration as the vast majority of other vehicles which have far greater CO2 emissions. We hope this change does not undermine the progress made in encouraging people to switch to cleaner, more efficient vehicles.”
