New car sales fall as drivers avoid electric and diesel vehicles

New car sales fell 6 percent last month.

Industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said 144,288 new cars were registered in October.

That compares to 153,529 during the same month last year.

The SMMT said the decrease equates to a loss of turnover of £350 million.

The drop was due to double-digit drops in deliveries of gasoline and diesel vehicles, down 14.2 percent and 20.5 percent respectively.

There was a 1.6 percent decline in hybrid electric vehicle (EV) adoption and a 3.2 percent drop in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

Pure battery electric vehicles bucked the trend, growing 24.5 percent amid the introduction of new models and deep discounts.

The SMMT said the number of pure battery electric vehicle models available has increased by 38 percent since the beginning of the year to more than 125.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “Huge investment from manufacturers in model choice and market support is helping to make the UK the second largest EV market in Europe.”

Dan Caesar, head of campaign group EVUK, said: “The discounts are moving new car buyers towards battery electric vehicles as they become more affordable.”