New car optimism as demand ramps up ahead of September plate change

• New car visits to Auto Trader up 7% month-on-month ahead of September, and 8% year-on-year.
• MG is the UK's 'hottest' electric brand in August thanks to pre-plate change push on key models.
• Car buyers benefitting from more choice of new car as Auto Trader records 23% uptick in physical stock since January, with c. 20,000 brand-new cars available onsite.

With the key plate change month of September fast approaching, the latest data from Auto Trader suggests new car demand is ramping up, with visits to its new car platform rising nearly 7% so far in August, on a month-on-month (MoM) basis. Despite the country being gripped by Olympic fever for much of the month, it marks a sizeable increase on the 2.7% MoM rise recorded this time last year, and an even bigger jump on July's 0.2% softening.

Offering optimism ahead of the vital sales period, Auto Trader's data (based on c. 2 million monthly new car visits and over 6.5 million daily new car searches) suggests tactics to stimulate demand by improving affordability and choice, as well as putting more of their new car stock in front of more engaged car buyers, is proving successful. As brands respond to growing challenges in the new car market, the volume of new cars advertised on Auto Trader has increased significantly this year, with levels in August already up 23% on January.

To help turn heads in the September run up, the average discount applied has risen, albeit marginally, from 8.7% in July, to 8.9% this month. Over the course of the last 12 months, however, discounts have leapt from 6.7%. With ZEV mandate pressures mounting, the average discount applied to electric vehicles (EV) has rocketed from 6.6% to 10.9% over the same period, which Auto Trader's data suggests is helping to move the dial. In recent months, the share of enquiries being sent to retailers generated by brand-new electric cars has seen a notable uptick, rising from 13.6% in February to 16.6% in August to date.

Highlighting the influence of affordability in driving consumer engagement for brand new EVs, the all-electric MG ZS is currently this month's fastest-growing new electric model. Thanks to an enticing combination of discounts, deposit contributions and finance offers, demand has surged, with its share of all new EV enquiries increasing to 6.8%, up 5.1 percentage points (ppts) in just four weeks. MG hasn't limited its big push to just the ZS either, with the MG4 the second fastest climber, accounting for a 6.5% share (up 2.5 ppts).

Whilst their big rise in demand failed to knock Honda's e:Ny1 off the overall EV top spot, accounting for a lead share of 7.4%, it did propel MG into first place in the electric brand rankings, and by some margin. With a 16% overall share of all new electric enquiries, the British badged Chinese brand is generating twice as many leads than Hyundai (8.2%) and Honda (7.8%) in second and third place respectively, and five times as many as MINI in 10th (4%).

Brand-new BMWs turn the most heads in August
BMW also deserves recognition this month. Whilst the premium German marque is 'only' the fourth most in demand EV brand based on leads, looking at Auto Trader's data more broadly reveals that it's not only generating the largest share of electric advert views (11.5%) in August, but also topping the overall new car charts. Indeed, when factoring in all fuel types this month, BMW accounted for more than 1 in 10 (13.6%) of all new car enquires sent to retailers, and a whopping 1 in 5 (19.5%) of all new car advert views.

BMW was followed by equally familiar European stalwarts on the overall lists this month, with Land Rover (12.9%) taking the title of second most in-demand new car brand by enquiry, and Volkswagen third (7.9%). At a model level, however, the Defender 110 (4%) knocked the Golf (3.2%) off its perch, to reclaim the title as the UK's current most in demand brand new car.

Most in demand new car electric models on Auto Trader in August ranked by enquiries/leads.

Rank	Make	Model	Share of enquiries
1	Honda	e:Ny1	7.4%
2	MG	MG ZS	6.8%
3	MG	MG4	6.5%
4	Hyundai	IONIQ 5	6.0%
5	Nissan	Leaf	5.6%
6	Renault	Scenic E-Tech	4.3%
7	Tesla	Model 3	3.5%
8	Porsche	Taycan	3.4%
9	MINI	Electric Cooper	3.4%
10	Ford	Mustang Mach-E	2.8%

Most in demand new car electric brands^[1] on Auto Trader in August ranked by enquiries/leads.

Rank	Make	Share of enquiries
1	MG	16.1%
2	Hyundai	8.2%
3	Honda	7.8%
4	BMW	7.7%
5	Renault	6.4%
6	Nissan	5.8%
7	Peugeot	5.3%
8	Ford	4.9%
9	Tesla	4.9%
10	MINI	4.4%

Most in demand new car models on Auto Trader in August ranked by enquiries/leads - all fuel types.

Rank	Make	Model	Share of enquiries
1	Land Rover	Defender 110	4.0%
2	Volkswagen	Golf	3.2%
3	Land Rover	Range Rover	3.0%
4	Land Rover	Range Rover Sport	2.6%
5	Hyundai	TUCSON	2.4%
6	MG	ZS	2.0%
7	BMW	X5	1.7%
8	Volkswagen	Tiguan	1.7%
9	BMW	M3	1.6%
10	BMW	3 Series	1.5%

Most in demand new car brands on Auto Trader in August ranked by enquiries/leads - all fuel types.

Rank	Make	Share of enquiries
1	BMW	13.6%
2	Land Rover	12.9%
3	Volkswagen	7.9%
4	Audi	5.6%
5	Hyundai	5.5%
6	MG	5.0%
7	Skoda	4.3%
8	Kia	3.2%
9	Honda	2.8%
10	Peugeot	2.8%

[1] Based on brands' electric models only

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