How to Watch UK TV Channels Outside of the UK? I'll give you a simple trick that will explain how to watch UK TV channels live abroad. Now you can watch all of your favorite UK TV programmes while you are away from home without VPN with 1Fakt.com
British drivers spent £1.07billion more buying new and used cars in the first three months of this year, compared to the same period last year.
This beats the record set in the first quarter of 2025, new analysis from the AA shows.
The quarterly spending figures released by the Office of National Statistics consumer trends data show that spending on car purchases jumped from £17.899billion in Q1 2025 to £18.969billion in Q1 2026.
That alone generated an additional £178.3million in VAT receipts for the Government's coffers, the AA finds.
In the same period, consumer spending on refuelling, maintenance and the other running costs of personal transport fell from £20.364billion in Q1 2025 to £20.277 billion in Q1 2026, a reduction of £87million.
1 March new-car registration and greater car-buying confidence will have driven much of this increased spending, but the AA also points to increased EV sales, both new and used, due to 'pump anxiety' caused by soaring fuel prices for why drivers spent more.
British drivers spent £1.07billion more buying new and used cars in the first three months of this year, compared to the same period of 2025, AA analysis finds
Annual figures comparing 2019 with 2025 show that consumer spending on buying used and new cars rose from £57.876billion to £66.203billion.
Spending on the running of personal transport during the same period increased from £70.919billion to £82.730billion.
Combine the two and total motoring consumer spending has jumped from £128.795billion pre-covid to £148.933billion last year.
This marks an increase of more than £20.1billion and generated an extra £3.35billion in VAT for the Treasury, up from £21.47billion in 2019 to £24.82billion last year.
The AA points to the growing purchase of EVs as a reason for ballooning car shopping: new electric vehicle sales in May made up 27.3 per cent of total car sales. New EVs are now 24.3 per cent up on the previous year, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) figures show.
Used EV interest and sales have soared too, with searches on AA cars for used EVs up 78 per cent in the last three months compared to the previous three months due to sky-high fuel prices kicked off by the Iran War pushing people towards cheaper to run electric cars.
New EV sales are now 24.3% on the previous year, SMMT figures show, as new and used EVs tempt drivers away from fuel cars and soaring petrol and diesel costs
AA President Edmund King said: 'Accelerating interest in switching to electric vehicles, largely caused by driver weariness with repeated pump-price shocks, is expected to maintain the momentum in the new and used-car markets this year.
'History may show that the Iran-US war was the straw that broke the camel’s back when it came to choosing an EV instead of a petrol or diesel car.
'The contrast between a six per cent increase in consumer spending on buying cars in the first quarter of this year versus less spending on the running of personal transport seems to show the two faces of the impact of the Middle East conflict.
'For the Treasury, even though the list price of new EVs is now more competitive with ICE models, it could be argued that the size of the big switch to electric is increasing the general turnover from new and used-car sales and therefore allowing the Government to rake in more VAT.'