Diesel cars account for only 31 per cent of sales, down from half the market in 2014 ANDREW MATTHEWS/PAGrowth in new registrations of hybrid and electric cars has slowed to a snail’s pace, latest figures show. New car sales fell by nearly 7 per cent to 2.367 million last year, after a decline of almost 6 per cent to 2.54 million in 2017. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said that the slump had been driven by a 30 per cent collapse in diesel sales, down by 315,000 cars to 750,000 in 2018. However, hopes that hybrids, plug-in hybrids and pure battery-electric vehicles could begin to pick up the slack have come to nothing. Alternative fuel vehicles make up only 6 per cent of the market, even though sales in the year rose by 20 per cent from 116,000 to 141,000.

Source: The Times January 07, 2019 12:00 UTC