Automotive market update - April: Electric car sales reach two million milestone

Welcome to our monthly market insight article where we provide a snapshot of what’s happening in the UK automotive market. Each month, we highlight key industry updates and trends, including electric vehicle (EV) adoption, plus our vehicle leasing insights.

Here Managing Director Kelly Marshall gives her take on April’s performance.

What’s happening with new car sales in the UK?

It was an unusual month for new car sales. April is typically a low volume month after the March plate-change but new car sales were up 24% in April 2026 compared to April 2025, reaching 149,247 registrations, according to the latest data from The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

The SMMT describes this as a “rebound” from an unusually weak April last year.

At Gateway2Lease, we have bucked the trend somewhat. April 2026 was our best April on record, up 15% on April 2025 but we didn’t experience a weak April last year. In fact, until last month it was our best-performing April.

Two millionth electric car registered

This April marked a milestone for electric car sales, with the two millionth EV registered.

In total, 39,084 fully electric cars were registered in April, up an impressive 59% on last year’s performance and taking their market share to 26.2%.

Sales of plug-in hybrids - cars with both a rechargeable battery and an engine - were also up on last year by 46.4%, giving them a 13.8% market share, while hybrids, which don’t need to be plugged in, rose 18.8%, with a 13.2% market share.

Our sales lean significantly towards fully electric cars. In April they accounted for 62% of all our orders across business contract hire (BCH), personal contract hire (PCH) and salary sacrifice through our partner The Electric Car Scheme, while plug-in hybrids made up 8%, and hybrids were 9% of our sales.

What drove sales in April?

There was growth in all sectors of the market but fleet and business experienced the biggest increase at 26.4%.

Business contract hire (BCH) continues to make up the majority of our total orders at 62% but interestingly we did see a slight uptick in personal contract hire (PCH). It accounted for 38% of our orders compared to 32% in March.

This could be because there are some fantastic deals on offer from Chinese car brands at the moment, which are tempting consumers. Five out of our top 10 most popular cars in both April and March have been models from Chinese manufacturers.

Gateway2Lease’s top 10 most popular cars in April*

1. Hyundai Tucson
2. Tesla Model Y
3. Omoda 5
4. VW Golf Hatch
5. Jaecoo 7
6. BYD Seal
7. Jaecoo 5 Electric
8. BYD Sealion 7
9. Volvo XC40
10. Hyundai Kona

*Includes cars sold through The Electric Car Scheme

The UK’s top 10 best-selling cars in April

1. Ford Puma
2. Kia Sportage
3. Nissan Qashqai
4. Volkswagen Golf
5. Mini Cooper
6. Omoda 5
7. Vauxhall Corsa
8. Volkswagen Tiguan
9. MG HS
10. Jaecoo 7