The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders published its final September new car registrations on 5 October 2026: 350,536 cars, up 12.0% on September 2025. New vans, pickups and 4x4s rose 4.8% to 49,704. For a motoring publisher, dealer group or classified site, those totals show the size of the new vehicle market that many of your readers are weighing up.
What did September new car registrations show?
September was the tenth consecutive month of growth and the strongest September since 2017, according to SMMT’s September new car figures. September 2017 was higher still, at 426,170.
Growth reached every sales type, with private buyers registering 149,166 cars, up 13.9%, for 42.6% of the market. Fleet registrations rose 9.6% to 190,998, and business registrations rose 37.3% to 10,372.
SMMT puts the growth down largely to intense competition, much of it from new entrants, along with more choice and attractive deals. Those deals, it says, are encouraging many into the new car market“who might otherwise have bought used”.
Battery electric cars took 28.3% of the month, and an electric car is quoted like any other car, as the piece on electric car insurance explains.
For a consumer title, those 149,166 private buyers are the people a model review or buying guide is written for. A reader choosing between new and used still needs cover on whichever car they buy.
How did new van registrations do in September?
SMMT’s September van figures show 49,704 new light commercial vehicles registered, up 4.8% from 47,418, and a sixth consecutive month of growth. That volume beat March, typically the market’s biggest month, when 49,505 were registered.
Large vans, over 2.5 and up to 3.5 tonnes, rose 11.1% to 36,302. Pickups fell 53.8% to 2,658, which SMMT links to last year’s reclassification of double-cab pickups as cars for benefit-in-kind and capital allowance purposes.
The live piece on how trade and motoring sites earn from van insurance sets out how a van audience turns into referrals.
For motoring publishers
Put a route to cover where readers choose a car
Model reviews, buying guides, classified listings, van pages and a dealer group’s own model pages are where readers decide what to buy. Each can link to the car or van comparison journey.
Car insurance on Quotezone runs as real-time comparison, and Quotezone says it compares quotes from over 130 FCA-regulated UK providers.
Read how motoring publishers turn car insurance into a revenue line
How much of the year does a plate month carry?
SMMT says the plate-change month typically accounts for around one in seven annual registrations.
The Department for Transport’s vehicle licensing statistics for April to June 2026, published on 23 September, give the wider picture. In the quarter, 682,000 vehicles were registered for the first time, up 12.0%. Cars rose 14.0% to 538,867 and light goods vehicles rose 8.8% to 81,644. By the end of June there were 34.9 million licensed cars on UK roads and nearly 5 million licensed vans.
The department counts imported vehicles at their first UK registration, which SMMT’s data does not. The two sets of totals should not be added together.
Every vehicle registered needs motor insurance to drive on UK roads. Plate months concentrate registrations, and the post on always-on placements beyond September new car registrations follows insurance demand through the rest of the year.
Why choose Seopa?
Quotezone has compared car insurance since 2005, and Seopa launched the UK’s first van insurance comparison in 2006.
Seopa operates the FCA-regulated comparison platform behind Quotezone and CompareNI, and behind hundreds of partner front ends. The platform runs over 9 million quotes annually for 4 million UK customers, drawing on direct relationships with more than 300 providers. It covers more than 60 insurance, utilities and financial products. Seopa is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference 313860.
Talk to the partnerships team
A useful place to start is the pages carrying your coverage of September new car registrations, and whether each one gives a buyer a route to cover.
The affiliate scheme page shows how a referral is tracked, and the co-branded route suits a site that wants a quote journey in its own style and branding. Tell the partnerships team which vehicles your readers are buying. The team can then match the car and van lines to your pages.
Frequently asked questions
How many new cars were registered in September 2026?
350,536, according to final SMMT figures published on 5 October 2026. That was up 12.0% on September 2025, a tenth consecutive month of growth and the strongest September since 2017. Private buyers accounted for 149,166 of them, up 13.9%.
How many new vans were registered in September 2026?
49,704 vans, pickups and 4x4s, up 4.8% on September 2025, according to SMMT. It was the sixth consecutive month of growth and the highest monthly volume of 2026, above March’s 49,505.
Why does September matter for new car registrations?
It is a plate-change month, and SMMT says the plate-change month typically accounts for around one in seven annual registrations. Every one of those cars needs motor insurance before it can be driven on UK roads.
How does a motoring site earn as a car insurance affiliate?
Through a referral to the comparison journey. Each placement carries its own tracking link with real-time reporting, and commission is paid monthly on the quotes and leads that convert. Terms are agreed directly with the partnerships team and vary by route and line.