Milly Standing
August 19, 2025
Dealer Insights, Electric Vehicles, Industry & Market News, News
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Consumers have responded positively to the Government’s Electric Car Grant (ECG), with Autotrader data showing a rise in interest for eligible models on its platform since the scheme was announced.
The overall new car market remains buoyant, with visits to Autotrader’s new car platform up 7% month-on-month (MoM) in August, and 15% year-on year (YoY), as buyers actively research ahead of the plate change period next month.
Several models across different brands have been confirmed to qualify for the Government incentive in early August, which Autotrader said had brought consumers to its new car platform in search of the eligible vehicles.
Vauxhall’s Mokka Electric received an 18% increase in advert views from the previous week, while two models from the Renault line up posted a rise also – the Scenic E-tech and Renault 4 saw advert views increase by 47% and 21% respectively.
While not all manufacturers have models that have qualified for the ECG yet, some brands have already launched their own incentives.
Chinese manufacturer Leapmotor was the first to announce its own grant on its C10 (£3,750 off) and T03 (£1,500 off) models in mid July.
As a result, advert views of both the C10 and T03 surged by 62% and 124% from 17th July to 17th August, as the savings on offer look to tempt potential car buyers.
China’s GWM also announced its own discount of £3,750 on its Ora 03 which saw advert views of the model increase by 15% MoM from 17th July to 17th August.
Retailers seem to be aware of the continued interest among prospective buyers, advertising more of their new car stock to Autotrader’s audience.
In August so far, the volume of new cars being advertised on Autotrader is currently up 8% compared to the same period last year.
Chinese brand Jaecoo topped the new car list for the very first time, with its Jaecoo 7 becoming the most in demand new car across all fuel types.
This is the first time a Chinese brand car has been the most popular new car on the platform. The crossover SUV generated a 5.5% share of enquiries in August so far.
This was followed by the popular Range Rover Sport and Volkswagen Golf which received a 4.4% and 3.2% share of enquiries respectively.
There was a notable change at the top of the leaderboard for the most popular new brand as Land Rover surpassed BMW into first position this month.
Land Rover generated a 12.1% share of all new car enquiries, while BMW received a 9.3% share and Volkswagen an 8.6% share.
For a second successive month, MG retained its title as the ‘hottest’ new electric brand and electric model with the manufacturer’s S5 model generating a 6.9% share of enquiries.
This came as the manufacturer introduced its own ‘grant’ on both the S5 and MG4, which also featured in the top 10.
The S5 was followed by Skoda’s crossover SUV Elroq, which gained a 6.6% share of enquiries.
Coming closely behind was Renault’s 5 E-tech electric, which was recently approved for the Government’s ECG and received a 6.4% share of enquiries.
MG took top position on the new electric brand leader board, generating an 11.4% share of enquiries in August while Czech manufacturer Skoda achieved a 9.2% share.
The top three was rounded off by Renault, which generated a 7.5% share of enquiries this month so far.
The average new car discount across all fuel types accelerated with discounts increasing from 9.4% in July to 9.7% in August.
The discounts on electric models also increased this month (11.2% off RRP), following a slight MoM increase between June and July.
Ian Plummer, commercial director at Autotrader, said: “Since the first car models were approved for Government discounts this month, consumers have been flocking to our platform to check out for themselves the various vehicles they could make big savings on.
“With other manufacturers also introducing their own ‘grants’ to compete with eligible cars, this has had a positive effect on the new electric market – and in particular affordable EVs – as eight out of the ten most in demand new EVs in August so far are priced below the £37,000 grant threshold.
“Five more models were added to the list over the weekend from Cupra, Peugeot and Volkswagen and with more EVs expected to be announced to qualify for the government incentive over the coming days, now could be a great time for consumers considering an EV to make the switch.”
Crucial reading for both the franchise and non-franchise UK dealer network with daily emails circulating to senior managers and staff in the UK.
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