2016 (Half Year) Britain: Best-Selling Car Brands and Models

UK new passenger vehicle registrations increased by 3.2% between January and June 2016 to a new record high 1,420,636 cars. Ford and the Fiesta remained Britain’s top-selling car brand and model.

Ford Fiesta ST200 Geneva 2016

During the first half of 2016, the British new car market expanded by 3.2% to 1,420,636 new passenger vehicle registrations – the strongest first half of a calendar year ever recorded in the UK. However, in June 2016, car sales were down a modest 0.8% with Brexit adding a major element of uncertainty for the car market in Britain during the second half of 2016. Ford, Vauxhall and Volkswagen lost market share but remained the top-three brands. The Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa and Ford Focus were again the three most-popular car models in Britain in 2016.

The British Car Market in 2016 (First Half)

New passenger vehicle registrations in the United Kingdom expanded during the first six months of 2016 by 3.2% to another record January to June period of 1,420,636. During the first half of 2016, more than 40,000 more cars were sold in Britain compared to the previous record half year in 2015.

However, June 2016 was the first negative month since October 2015, which brought a period of 43 consecutive months of growth to an end. In June, car sales in Britain declined by 0.8% but the outlook for the second half of 2016 is very uncertain. Political uncertainty is generally a negative factor on car sales but some buyers may bring purchase forward hoping to avoid higher import prices due to a weaker currency. July and August are traditionally low-volume months so the first useful indication of market direction will only emerge when the September figures become available in October.

Best-Selling Car Brands in Britain in 2016 (First Half)

The following were the top-selling car marques in Britain during the first half of 2016 according to new passenger vehicle registration figures released by the SMMT:

2016 Marque HY 2016 HY 2015 % Change % Market share
Total 1,420,636 1,376,889 3.2 100
1 Ford 171,192 177,150 -3.4 12.05
2 Vauxhall 132,947 142,434 -6.7 9.36
3 Volkswagen 109,566 120,064 -8.7 7.71
4 BMW 91,610 80,363 14.0 6.45
5 Audi 89,521 86,009 4.1 6.3
6 Mercedes-Benz 88,603 74,803 18.5 6.24
7 Nissan 78,582 83,423 -5.8 5.53
8 Peugeot 54,776 57,337 -4.5 3.86
9 Toyota 54,504 53,945 1.0 3.84
10 Hyundai 48,077 46,743 2.9 3.38
11 Kia 46,343 42,248 9.7 3.26
12 Renault 44,570 36,840 21.0 3.14
13 Land Rover 42,559 36,164 17.7 3
14 Skoda 42,233 39,468 7.0 2.97
15 Citroen* 37,781 45,483 -16.9 2.66
16 MINI 33,963 31,304 8.5 2.39
17 Fiat 33,324 32,676 2.0 2.35
18 Honda 32,449 27,653 17.3 2.28
19 Mazda 26,381 23,548 12.0 1.86
20 SEAT 24,634 27,327 -9.9 1.73
21 Volvo 22,629 21,156 7.0 1.59
22 Suzuki 19,944 17,687 12.8 1.4
23 Jaguar 16,597 9,882 68.0 1.17
24 Dacia 13,445 14,463 -7.0 0.95
25 Mitsubishi 10,544 13,190 -20.1 0.74
26 DS* 9,436 794 1088.4 0.66
27 Jeep 7,600 5,354 42.0 0.53
28 Lexus 7,416 6,929 7.0 0.52
29 Porsche 6,712 6,192 8.4 0.47
30 smart 5,743 3,520 63.2 0.4
31 Alfa Romeo 2,705 2,612 3.6 0.19
32 Ssangyong 2,342 1,355 72.8 0.16
33 Abarth 2,005 1,078 86.0 0.14
34 MG 1,896 1,670 13.5 0.13
35 Subaru 1,828 1,667 9.7 0.13
36 Infiniti 1,565 609 157.0 0.11
37 Bentley 961 732 31.3 0.07
38 Maserati 712 778 -8.5 0.05
39 Aston Martin 467 496 -5.9 0.03
40 Lotus 140 187 -25.1 0.01
41 Other Imports 1,908 1,044 82.8 0.13
42 Other British 423 379 11.6 0.03

*Citroen figures for January to May 2015 include DS sales.

Top-Ten Best Selling Car Brands in Britain in 2016 (First Half)

There were no changes in the top-ten marques in Britain although the rank order changed slightly.

The top three best-selling car brands in Britain remained Ford, Vauxhall and Volkswagen but all three had weaker sales in an expanding market with Vauxhall and Volkswagen each losing a full percentage market share. Vauxhall’s market share fell below 10%. Volkswagen was the worst performer of the top-ten brands in the UK and had sales down by nearly a fifth in June 2018.

BMW improved from sixth place last year to fourth in 2016. Audi slipped one place with sales just above market average. Mercedes-Benz was the most-improved brand amongst the top ten marques and improved from seventh a year ago.

Nissan slipped two positions with weaker sales while Peugeot kept eighth place despite weaker sales. Toyota and Hyundai also maintained their positions from a year ago with positive sales but increases below market average.

A few further salient features from the British car sales statistics for the first half of 2016:

The most-improved brands amongst the top 30 were Jaguar, Smart and Jeep.

The worst performers amongst the top 30 were Mitsubishi, Seat and Volkswagen.

Renault increased sales by more than a fifth and moved up two rank positions. Land Rover also improved two positions with much stronger sales.

DS sales are included in Citroen figures for January to May 2015 making comparative statistics such as the 1000% sales increase nonsensical.

Top Ten Best-Selling Cars in Britain in 2016 (First Half)

The ten top-selling cars in Britain during the first half of 2016 according to the SMMT were:

2016 Model 2016 (HY) 2015 (HY)
1 Ford Fiesta 68,833 71,990
2 Vauxhall Corsa 42,356 50,125
3 Ford Focus 38,715 45,078
4 Volkswagen Golf 37,577 38,261
5 Nissan Qashqai 33,656 34,501
6 Vauxhall Astra 28,406 29,996
7 Volkswagen Polo 28,000 28,980
8 Mini 24,293 23,455
9 Vauxhall Mokka 22,462 NA
10 Mercedes-Benz C Class 22,069 24,676

The order of the top seven best-selling cars in Britain during the first half of 2016 was unchanged from a year ago. The Ford Fiesta comfortably remained Britain’s favorite car in 2016 but all of the best-selling car models sold in lower volumes than during the first six months of 2015. The volume declines were especially strong for the Corsa and Focus.

Despite Volkswagen’s current woes, the VW Golf remained the favorite foreign branded car in the UK. (The Ford cars are mostly imported from Germany too.)

The Nissan Qashqai was again the best-selling Japanese car and the favorite SUV in Britain.

Mini sales increased allowing the BMW-owned brand to improve two rank positions from a year ago. The Vauxhall Mokka is a new entrant, at the expense of the Audi A3 that was the eighth best-selling car model in the UK last year. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class slipped on position as the tenth most-popular car model in the UK in 2016.

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.