Rubbish Check
Daily Mail Money · 4 September 2026 source
“Car sales rise to 27-year record as Britons snap up Chinese motors and electric vehicles”
R4/ 10
Selective
Rubbish Rating — 1 = base fact, 10 = pure rubbish
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In short
Rubbish Talk rates Daily Mail Money's claim of a "27-year record" driven by EVs and Chinese cars a 4/10 because the SMMT's own release credits plug-in hybrids, not electric vehicles, with the fastest growth, and the Mail's own article later contradicts its "27-year" framing with a "25 years" caption.
The Verdict
Selective. The underlying numbers check out (94,236 registrations, up 13.7%), but the headline picks the flattering narrative on two counts: it names EVs as the driver when plug-in hybrids grew faster, and it states a "27-year record" that the article itself undercuts with a "25 years" caption elsewhere in the same piece, while a corroborating trade outlet dates the biannual plate system to 2001, not 1999.
What actually happened
The SMMT reported the UK new car market saw registrations increase by 13.7% year-on-year in August, marking the ninth consecutive month of growth, with 94,236 registrations during the month, usually quiet ahead of the September number plate change, the biggest total seen since biannual plate changes were introduced. Every powertrain except petrol grew, with plug-in hybrids posting the fastest rise, EVs close behind, and Chinese-brand models taking a record market share.
Key facts
- Total registrations: 94,236 in August 2026, up 13.7% year-on-year from 82,908 in August 2025.
- EV growth vs headline emphasis: EV registrations rose by 27.7% year-on-year to take 29.8% of the market, the second highest monthly share seen so far in 2026, strong, but not the fastest-growing fuel type.
- PHEV outgrew EVs: Plug-in hybrid registrations saw the biggest gain in August, up by 39.8% for a 14.5% market share, a faster growth rate than EVs, yet the headline names EVs, not PHEVs, as the driver.
- Record-year discrepancy: the article's own body cites the plate system as "introduced in 1999" (making 2026 a 27-year record) but a caption later in the same piece calls it "the best sales performance in an August for more than 25 years." A corroborating trade title dated the system's introduction to 2001, which would make this a 25-year, not 27-year, record.
- Chinese brands: Britons bought almost 20,000 Chinese-brand vehicles, a record 21% market share, as stated in the article and consistent with SMMT top-10 model data showing four Chinese-brand cars in August's best-sellers.
- ZEV mandate context buried: the article notes EV sales still fell short of the 33% 2026 ZEV mandate target, and that the government is consulting on relaxing targets after industry lobbying, a caveat absent from the headline.
What to watch for
- Watch whether the "record" framing survives scrutiny once outlets settle on whether the plate system dates to 1999 or 2001, since that changes the "X-year record" claim used across coverage.
- September's plate-change month is the real test for EV demand, per SMMT's own framing of August as a low-volume, percentage-amplified month.
- Track whether PHEV's faster growth rate gets its own headline treatment next month, or continues to be folded under the more politically charged "EV" framing.
About this scoreThe R-Score is Rubbish Talk's editorial opinion on how far a headline's framing sits from what the underlying facts support. It is a judgement about presentation and emphasis, not an allegation that any outlet has acted dishonestly. Every figure we rely on is linked under Receipts so you can check it yourself.