New figures show the UK’s new car market has grown for six consecutive months.
Some 131,994 new cars were registered last month, up 14.7% on January 2022, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.
Electrified vehicles are driving the increase.
Hybrid electric vehicle registrations were 40.6% higher in January than during the same month in 2022.
Pure electricity market share was 13.1%, down from last year’s average of 16.6%.
A new forecast from the SMMT predicts that total registrations for all of 2023 will reach 1.79 million, up 11.1% from last year.
The industry body warned that the deployment of new electric vehicle charging points is not keeping pace with demand.
It said the ratio of new charging point installations to new plug-in cars fell from 1:42 in the last three months of 2021 to 1:62 between October and December last year.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “The car industry is already delivering growth that bucks the national trend and is poised, with the right framework, to accelerate the decarbonisation of the UK economy.
“The industry and the market are in transition, but they are fragile due to a difficult economic outlook, rising costs of living and consumer anxiety about new technologies.
“We are looking at a budget that reaffirms the commitment to net zero and provides measures that drive green growth for the sector and the nation.”
Ian Plummer, commercial director of online vehicle marketplace Auto Trader, said: “Against a backdrop of economic turbulence, six consecutive months of year-on-year growth for the new car market is something to be encouraged about, but sales of electric vehicles are ‘have done. return to earth.
“In our market, demand for new electric vehicles is at a three-year low thanks to higher energy bills.
“They now account for less than one in 10 of all new car inquiries sent to retailers, down from almost 30% last summer.”
Jim Holder, editorial director of What Car? magazine, said: “Electric vehicles were the success story last year.
“For uptake to continue to grow this year, it is crucial that the cost of living crisis is contained as the technology continues to dominate over petrol and diesel models.”
