Auto Trader has released new data showing a surge in new car demand ahead of the September plate change, with visits to its new car platform climbing by 7% month-on-month (MoM) so far in August 2024 and 8% year-on-year.

This growth was reported despite the country’s focus on the Olympics, surpassing last year's 2.7% month-on-month increase and July's 0.2% dip.

Derived from approximately two million monthly new car visits and more than 6.5 million daily searches, the data suggests that strategies to boost demand through enhanced affordability and variety are bearing fruit.

Auto Trader said it has seen a 23% rise in the volume of new cars advertised since January.

In preparation for the critical sales period in September, the average discount on new cars has marginally increased from 8.7% in July to 8.9%.

Over the past 12 months, discounts have jumped from 6.7%, with electric vehicles (EVs) experiencing a significant discount increase from 6.6% to 10.9%, aiding in market penetration amid zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate pressures.

Besides, the data shows that the proportion of enquiries for brand-new electric cars has risen from 13.6% in February to 16.6% in August.

The MG ZS, an all-electric model, has seen its enquiry share soar to 6.8%, up by 5.1 percentage points in just a month, making it the fastest-growing new electric model, mainly due to discounts and finance offers.

MG's MG4 is also climbing rapidly, now holding a 6.5% share of enquiries.

Despite this surge, Honda's e:Ny1 maintains the top spot with a 7.4% share.

However, MG has ascended to the top of the electric brand rankings with a 16% share of all new electric enquiries, outpacing Hyundai, Honda, and MINI.

BMW has also made a notable impact this month.

While it ranks fourth in EV brand demand based on enquiries, it leads in electric advert views with 11.5% and dominates the overall new car category with 13.6% of all enquiries and 19.5% of advert views.

Land Rover and Volkswagen follow BMW in overall brand demand, with the Defender 110 model surpassing the Volkswagen Golf as the UK's most in-demand new car.

Auto Trader performance director Bex Kennett said: “To make sure our partners have the best opportunity to profit during the key plate change month, we’ve just launched our largest ever consumer marketing campaign, which is focused on driving many more highly engaged new car buyers to the 20,000 new cars advertised on our platform.

“I’d urge retailers not to miss out on the opportunity and make sure their stock is where buyers will be looking for their next new car over the coming weeks.”