New Fleet And Company Vehicle Registrations Rise By One-Quarter

Fleet vehicle and company car registrations rose by 27% in October 2023 against October 2022’s figures.

It’s positive news after 2022’s figures showed a downturn amid supply issues due to the pandemic, Brexit, and the global semiconductor shortage.

Experts have been predicting an upturn in new fleet and company vehicle registrations for some time, particularly with the backlog of deliveries due to the previously mentioned issues beginning to clear.

We all know how tough it’s been to get a hold of new vehicles in the last few years, but this news is a positive sign that’s easing.

What’s The Big Picture With New Fleet Vehicles?

Fleet and business registrations are driving the entire vehicle market currently, with the outlook looking incredibly promising.

In fact, with a 59% market share, it’s outstripping private demand significantly.

More than 90,000 fleet vehicles and company vehicles were registered to fleets and businesses in October 2023, which is more than 20,000 higher than the same time last year.

In contrast, private vehicle registrations rose by just 0.3% to a total of 62,915 in the same period, according to the latest data.

It means that the fleet and company car market is on track to hit 1 million registrations in 2023 as it sits just shy of 900,000 for the year so far, which is more than 250,000 more units than in 2022.

The picture for the private market across the year isn’t a disaster, though, with total units sold sitting at 713,000 so far.

And when it comes to electric vehicles, the picture looks positive without being ground-breaking, perhaps due in part to the delay of the new internal combustion engine (ICE) ban to 2035.

EV’s accounted for 37.6% of all new car vehicle registrations, with the battery electric vehicle market representing 15.6% of the total market share, up by 0.8% from 2022.

What Does It Mean for Fleet Owners?

Going electric is a reality for all vehicle owners at some point. And that also means a big consideration for fleet owners – when do you make the switch?

That issue has been exacerbated by the long lead times and difficulty in procuring new electric commercial vehicles, leading many to opt for more attainable options…

Whether that’s new ICE vehicles, sticking with older models and adding significant miles to the clock, or looking to the nearly-new market.

But the good news is that the supply issues that caused so many delays appear to be behind us now. The emissions problem isn’t one that will go away any time soon and with more and more clean air zones arriving (as well as the ULEZ), EVs are a reality for all fleet owners.

You might have already begun the switchover… but if you’re midway through your vehicle replacement cycle, you’re well placed to press ahead.

And given that the cost of running fleet vehicles has risen by 12% in the last year, the issue of rising costs is always likely to play a factor in your decision making.

Where are you in your vehicle replacement cycle? Have you gone electric yet? Let us know in the comments below…