ULEV registrations on the up

In the first quarter of 2016, 11,755 ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) were registered in the UK, 1 per cent of all new vehicle registrations. These figures show an increase of 31 per cent compared to last year when ULEVs were accounting for 0.8 per cent of all new registrations, and they were up an impressive 508 per cent compared to 2014 when their new vehicles share was only 0.2 per cent.

Commenting on the latest report released by the Department for Transport, Sue Robinson, director of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) which represents franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers across the UK, said: “Ultra-low emission vehicles have shown a solid and steady growth and this positive trend is set to continue.

“In January to March 2016, most of newly registered ULEVs – 11,243 cars and 262 vans – were eligible for grants offered by the Government. We are pleased to see that efforts made by the Government are facilitating the shift to modern transportation.

“The e-commerce boom will support in particular the growth of plug-in vans and thanks to this we expect the market to continue to rise.”