Citroen, Cupra, Dacia and Tesla make gains in August new car registrations

August’s new car registrations winners included Citroen, Cupra, Dacia and Tesla as retailers helped UK automotive to only its second month of growth in 2022.

Several manufacturers managed to significantly outstrip the modest 1.2% rise in registrations reported by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) in what is traditionally the year’s second-slowest month for retailers.

Dacia – up 83.2% to 17,216 units – was among the biggest winners in an increasingly budget-conscious market last month.

On the back of the launch of its new Jogger MPV – the market’s cheapest seven-seat vehicle – its August registrations rose 108.3% to 1,691.

Despite being down by over 7% year-to-date, Citroen put in a spurt to deliver 98.4% growth to 2,387 units.

Cupra, meanwhile, boosted its fortunes further with a 144.7% August increase (to 854) to leave its year-to-date total up 89.1% at 7,751.

The result comes a month after Cupra's EV sales propelled it ahead of its Spanish sister brand Seat in July.

Tesla was up 92.6% to 946, leaving its registrations up 45.7% YTD at 22,243.

Some of the sector’s strongest recent registrations winners found August more of a challenge, however.

Kia dipped by 15% to 3,678 but still remains on-course for a record year-end total of 100,000 units with a YTD performance up 18.6% at 68,139.

MG, meanwhile, up a considerable 68.9% YTD at 29,553 units, also suffered a surprise August reduction in registrations.

The Chinese-owned brand, which has recently been forced to pause EV sales due to production issues, saw its registrations decline 6% to 1,404 last month.

In a recent interview at the UK launch of its new MG4 EV last month, MG Motor UK commercial director Guy Pigoukanis told AM that issues with ZS manufacturing, in particular, has left the brand around 18,000 registrations down on where it might have been in a market unencumbered by component shortages and other issues.