Car Market Overview November 2026

Welcome to this month’s update, where we take a look at where the UK new and used car markets currently stand. We’ll cover the latest new car registration figures to the end of September 2026, before looking at used car retail activity, wholesale trends and the latest movements in trade values. All information in this overview is correct at the time of writing, 26th October 2026.

New car sales

September was a strong month for new car sales. The latest SMMT data shows 350,536 cars were registered, up 12.0% on the same month last year. That’s the best September since 2017 and the tenth month in a row of growth. It was also circa 2% ahead of September 2019, the second month running that volumes have moved above prepandemic levels. September is one of the most important months for new car registrations because of the plate change, and it usually accounts for about a seventh of the year’s registrations. The SMMT put this down to consumer confidence picking up, and the economy has held up better than many expected. Even so, the main driver of growth has been strong competition in the market, especially from newer brands. Buyers have more choice and plenty of attractive offers, and that’s drawing in people who might otherwise have bought a used car.