“It is positive to see that Alternative Fuel Vehicles (AFVs) sales increased 21.5% this month and 23.7% year to date,” said Sue Robinson, Director of the National Franchised Dealers Association which represents commercial vehicle and franchised car retailers across the UK, commenting on recent figures about AFVs vehicles sales.
AFVs have been continuously growing over past few months and their share is now 3.3% of the market this year. Although the growth has been uninterrupted, it has not been always very consistent - with peaks in August 2015 (52.3%), December 2015 (40.3%) and more recently January 2016 (32.1%).
Robinson continued, “In 2015, global sales of battery electric vehicles (BEV’s) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs7) increased by 60% and forecasts for the future are positive.
“Future predictions of electric vehicle ownership vary considerably with OPEC predicting 1.7million globally by 2020 and Bloomberg New Energy Finance 7.4 million.
“The actual numbers will depend on the reduction in cost of vehicle batteries, and the expansion of the vehicle charging point network, which are currently proving an obstacle to consumers buying one of these vehicles.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Rupal Rawal, Press Officer Tel: 020 7307 3412 Mob: 07528 977 157 Press Office direct line: 020 7307 3422 Press Office fax: 020 7307 3406 Web: www.rmif.co.uk Email: rupal.rawal@rmif.co.uk
The Retail Motor Industry represents the interests of operators in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man providing sales and services to motorists and businesses. The RMI has a formal association with the independent Scottish Motor Trade Association which represents the retail motor industry in Scotland.
