February 2026 delivered the best new car sales month in February for over two decades, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Total registrations reached 90,100 units, up 7.2% on February 2025, with private retail sales the standout performer, rising 17.6% to 35,227 units. Fleet still dominated overall, accounting for 59.4% of the market, but the private sector surge was the most meaningful signal in the data.
The Ford Puma took the monthly top spot with 3,220 registrations, ahead of the Kia Sportage on 2,205 and the Mini Cooper on 1,828. The Tesla Model 3 came fourth with 1,584 registrations, and the Jaecoo 7 rounded out the top five at 1,446 units. Year to date, the Puma leads on 6,935, with the Sportage close behind at 6,880 and the Jaecoo 7 third on 5,505. The Chinese brand's continued presence near the top of UK sales charts is something established manufacturers would rather not dwell on.
Pure electric vehicles registered 21,840 units in February, a 2.8% increase, representing 24.2% of the monthly market. That sounds positive until you read what sits beneath it. The SMMT noted that February was the second consecutive month in which battery electric vehicle market share fell compared with the same period in the prior year. The figures are partly distorted by the rush of EV purchases made before April 2025's new vehicle excise duty rates came into force, and by manufacturers pushing hard to meet ZEV mandate targets at the end of 2025. Strip those artificial factors out and the underlying trend is less comfortable.
Plug-in hybrids were the real growth story, up 43.5% to an 11.6% market share. Standard hybrid electric registrations rose 3.3% to 13.1%. Petrol volumes increased 5.2% but share slipped to 46.5%. Diesel continued its steady exit from relevance, down 3.8% to just 4.5% of the market.
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The ZEV mandate requires 33% of each manufacturer's UK new car sales to be battery electric in 2026. Current BEV market share sits at 22.0%. That is two thirds of the required figure, with ten months of the year remaining and March, the biggest sales month in the UK calendar, still to come. The industry has been asking for a review of the mandate since before it came into force, and the February data has given the lobby another round of ammunition.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes was direct about the position manufacturers are in.
"The UK's new car market is continuing to recover and EV volumes are growing too, even if market share remains disappointing. All eyes are now on 'new plate' March, which typically sets the tone for the year — and given sales of new pure petrol and diesel cars are currently required to end in less than four years, EV uptake must accelerate rapidly. Manufacturers have committed monumental investment to drive demand but such costs cannot be sustained indefinitely, making a review of the transition an urgent priority to ensure ambition matches natural demand."
That phrase, ambition matches natural demand, is doing a lot of work. The government's position is that the mandate exists to drive supply and consumer choice, not to reflect current demand. The industry's position is that you cannot fine your way to an EV market that consumers are not yet ready to fund. March will not settle that argument. But it will tell us whether February's private buyer surge was a seasonal blip or something more durable.
Sources: Car Dealer Magazine / MotorBuzz | SMMT February 2026 registration data | SMMT ZEV mandate compliance reporting