Diesel car sales have ‘plummeted’ with motorists turning away from combustion ownership
Diesel sales have continued to fall with motorists losing interest in the fuel type compared to petrol vehicles and electric cars.
Diesel sales will continue to “plummet” with ownership likely to drastically fall as electric cars take over, according to a motoring expert.
Transport & Environment UK Policy Manager, Matt Finch warned diesel sales were now at a “really low percentage” with EVs now moving ahead.
He stressed there was now a “natural churn” of diesel vehicles leaving the road with many being scrapped.
It could spark the beginning of the end of diesel fuel on the road with petrol and electric car sales storming ahead.
When asked if diesel ownership will keep lowering as more EVs make it onto the road, Matt said: “Exactly that."
He told Express.co.uk: “One of the things that's been happening since about 2016 and the whole dieselgate air pollution scandal is that the number of new diesels coming onto the road, as in new sales have just plummeted.
“It’s actually a really low percentage now and far fewer new diesel cars are sold than EVs and petrol cars now.
“But at the other end, you still have vehicles being scrapped. The vehicles of 15, 20 years ago are coming off the roads and half of those are diesel cars. You’ve got this natural churn.”
New data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed the scale of the diesel drop-off.
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So far in 2024, just 55,524 new diesel models have been sold which marks an 11 percent reduction compared to figures from 2023.
Just 9,220 models were sold in May 2024 with a drastic 16.7 percent decline on May 2023.
In comparison., a staggering 462,860 petrol cars have left forecourts so far this year in a five percent boost from 2023 sales.
Meanwhile, battery electric vehicles sales were also up with the number of cars sold in 2023 rising from 121,268 to 133,062 so far in 2024.
This was a 9.7 percent increase but was not the only massive change with a 31.5 percent rise in plug-in hybrid (PHEV) sales.
Matt’s warning also comes after analysis from T&E found that sales of diesel fuel had dramatically fallen in London compared to other regions.
Showing the impact of London’s ULEZ scheme, sales were down nearly 40 percent over the past four years with just a 20 percent drop around other parts of the UK.
Matt has previously warned London petrol stations may stop selling diesel within years if the decline in usage continues.
He added: “If you are a profit-making business and you're selling a product and people stop buying that product you're going to stop stocking it.
“There’s a very real scenario where in London filling stations, petrol stations, become just that. They only stock petrol and not diesel at some point in the near-ish future.
“That might be the early 2030s but it's close in London if trends continue.”
