2015 (Full Year) Britain: Best-Selling Car Brands

Ford at Geneva Auto Salon 2015In 2015, a record 2,633,503 new passenger vehicles were registered in the UK with Ford, Vauxhall and Volkswagen the best-selling car manufacturers. BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan recorded strong sales gains in Britain for the best year ever for most brands. The Ford Fiesta was again Britain’s favorite car model.

The British Car Market in 2015

New passenger vehicle registrations in the United Kingdom increased by 6.34% in 2015 to 2,633,503 cars – the highest car sales in a calendar year ever in Britain. 2015 was only the fourth year that the British car market exceeded 1.5 million passenger vehicles.

The British new car market has experienced year-on-year growth for 45 of the past 46 months – only October 2015 showed a small 1% dip in sales.

New UK Car Sales per Calendar Year

According to SMMT figures, new passenger vehicle registrations in the UK in recent calendar years were as follows:

Year UK Car Sales % Change
2015 2,633,503 6.3
2014 2,476,435 9.4
2013 2,264,737 11
2012 2,044,609 5.3
2011 1,941,253 -4.4
2010 2,030,846 1.8
2009 1,994,999 -6.4
2008 2,131,795 -11
2007 2,404,007

Best-Selling Car Manufacturers in Britain in 2015 (Full Year)

The top-selling car marques in the UK in 2015 according to new passenger vehicle registration data released by the SMMT were:

Manufacturer FY 2015 FY 2014 % Market share 2015 % Change 15 / 14
Total 2,633,503 2,476,435 6.34
1 Ford 335,267 326,643 12.73 2.64
2 Vauxhall 269,766 269,177 10.24 0.22
3 Volkswagen 223,784 214,828 8.5 4.17
4 BMW 167,391 148,878 6.36 12.44
5 Audi 166,709 158,987 6.33 4.86
6 Nissan 153,937 138,338 5.85 11.28
7 Mercedes-Benz 145,254 124,419 5.52 16.75
8 Peugeot 104,249 103,566 3.96 0.66
9 Toyota 98,709 94,012 3.75 5
10 Hyundai 88,117 81,986 3.35 7.48
11 Citroen 80,012 83,397 3.04 -4.06
12 Kia 78,489 77,525 2.98 1.24
13 Renault 75,618 66,334 2.87 14
14 Skoda 74,692 75,488 2.84 -1.05
15 Land Rover 66,574 56,200 2.53 18.46
16 Fiat 64,257 67,162 2.44 -4.33
17 MINI 63,581 53,661 2.41 18.49
18 Honda 53,417 53,544 2.03 -0.24
19 SEAT 47,654 53,512 1.81 -10.95
20 Mazda 45,504 37,784 1.73 20.43
21 Volvo 43,432 41,066 1.65 5.76
22 Suzuki 34,437 37,395 1.31 -7.91
23 Dacia 26,228 23,862 1 9.92
24 Jaguar 23,954 18,401 0.91 30.18
25 Mitsubishi 22,693 15,805 0.86 43.58
26 Lexus 13,269 11,572 0.5 14.66
27 Porsche 12,167 9,160 0.46 32.83
28 Jeep 10,794 3,909 0.41 176.13
29 DS 8,614 0.33
30 smart 8,455 4,342 0.32 94.73

Ten Best-Selling Car Brands in Britain in 2015

The list of the ten top-selling car brands in Britain in 2015 was largely similar to a year ago. All top brands sold more cars in the UK in 2015 than in 2014 but many top brands, including the market leaders, underperformed the broader market.

Ford easily maintained its position as the strongest car manufacturer in Britain. However, for the second successive year Ford underperformed. Ford lost a percentage market share since 2013.

Vauxhall sales in the UK were flat in 2015 but the launch of the new Astra should help the marque in 2016. Vauxhall lost 1.3% market share in the past two years.

Volkswagen continued to catch up with Vauxhall but at a moderate pace. VW sales increased by a below average 4% in 2015 after a more impressive 10% growth a year ago.

Sales of BMW in the UK increased by a strong 12.5% in 2015 allowing BMW to take fourth place from direct competitor Audi. Audi slipped from fourth to fifth with an increase in sales below 5%.

Nissan sales in the UK increased by 11% while Mercedes-Benz was the most improved of the top brands with an increase of 17% in new cars sold in Britain in 2015.

Peugeot maintained its eighth place despite flat sales while Toyota remained at ninth by selling 5% more in Britain in 2015.

Hyundai and Citroen swapped places. Although Citroen and DS sales are listed separately from 2015, the combined total of the two French companies was still less than that of Hyundai.

Best-Selling Car Marques in Britain in 2015

A few further salient features from the 2015 UK new passenger vehicle registrations statistics:

  • The most-improved brands were Jeep and Smart while Mitsubishi, Porsche and Jaguar also did remarkably well. Mercedes-Benz and BMW added the highest number of cars to previous totals.
  • SEAT (-11%) was the only top-30 brand with double-digit declines.
  • DS is listed as a separate brand from Citroen since 2015 and the 29th largest car brand in the UK. As a result, Alfa Romeo slipped out of the top 30.

The Ford Fiesta was again Britain’s favorite car model in 2015.

About the author:

Henk Bekker

Henk Bekker is a freelance writer with over 20 years of experience in online writing. His best-selling cars website has been reporting car sales statistics since 2008 with classic car auction prices focusing on the most expensive automobiles sold at public auctions in the past decade. He also owns the travel websites European-Traveler.com and Lake Geneva Switzerland. Henk holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and an MSc in Finance from the University of London.