If you are a taxi driver and responsible for sourcing your own vehicle to drive your passengers around in then one of the biggest decisions you will need to make is whether to purchase a new car or a used one. Such a decision is often based upon your own financial situation.

If you are setting up a taxi service business for the first time then you may not have the financial capacity to invest in a new car but if you have been established for a long time and have built up a successful taxi or private hire service business then you may be in a better financial position.

You may be interested to read that, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the number of new cars registered here in the UK in February 2026 increased quite significantly when compared with February 2025.

New car sales in February 2026 amounted to 90,100 whereas in the same month last year the figure was 84,054. That is a rise of 7.25%.

Sales to the private sector amounted to 35,227 with this being a rise of 17.6% year on year. New car sales to the fleet market totalled 53,506 – an increase of 1.8% and new car registrations to the business sector amounted to 1,357 that was a drop of 12.7%.

The sale of new cars fuelled by petrol rose by 5.2% to 41,935 making up for 46.5% of the market. Diesel fuelled new car sales dropped by 3.8% to 4,080 making up 4.5% of the market. The balance was made up of new cars powered in some way electrically.

The top 5 selling new cars in the UK in February 2026 were: –

1. Ford Puma 3,220
2. KIA Sportage 2,205
3. MINI Cooper 1,828
4. Tesla Model 3 1,584
5. Jaecoo 7 1,446

It is pleasing to see that the number of new cars sold in the UK in February has risen but we do need to see a bigger rise in people buying electrically powered cars if targets are to be met. It will be interesting to see if the recent large increases in fuel prices we have seen in recent weeks due in the main to the USA/Iran war encourages an increasing number of motorists including taxi drivers to purchase such a vehicle.

Whether you are buying a new car or a used one why not obtain a taxi insurance quotation through us as we provide access to a number of specialist insurance companies. Quotes are provided without any obligation to proceed. We very much look forward to hearing from you at your convenience.