In 2020, the Ford Fiesta was again the top-selling car model in the UK while the Vauxhall Corsa moved into second place ahead of the VW Golf in Britain.
In full calendar year 2020, the Ford Fiesta maintained its traditional position as Britain’s best-selling car model. However, the Fiesta’s lead shrunk and the Vauxhall Corsa gained second place from the VW Golf. The Ford Puma and Volvo XC40 were new entrants on the list of the ten most-popular car models in Britain in 2020. The British new car market in 2020 contracted by 29% to its smallest size since 1992. Ford remained the largest car brand in the UK in 2020.
Latest British Car Sales Data: 2023: Market Overview, Brands, Models, Electric; 2022-2008.
List of the Top 10 Best-Selling Car Models in Britain in 2020
The ten best-selling car models in the UK in full calendar year 2020 according to the SMMT were as follows:
| Brand & Model | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| 1 | Ford Fiesta | 49,174 | 77,833 | 95,892 | 94,533 | 120,525 |
| 2 | Vauxhall Corsa | 46,439 | 54,239 | 52,915 | 52,772 | 77,110 |
| 3 | Volkswagen Golf | 43,109 | 58,994 | 64,829 | 74,605 | 69,492 |
| 4 | Ford Focus | 39,372 | 56,619 | 50,492 | 69,903 | 70,545 |
| 5 | Mercedes Benz A Class | 37,608 | 53,724 | 43,527 | 43,717 | NA |
| 6 | Nissan Qashqai | 33,972 | 52,532 | 50,546 | 64,216 | 62,682 |
| 7 | Mini | 31,233 | 41,188 | 44,904 | 47,669 | 48,328 |
| 8 | Volkswagen Polo | 26,965 | 37,453 | 45,149 | 47,855 | 54,448 |
| 9 | Ford Puma | 26,294 | ||||
| 10 | Volvo XC40 | 25,023 | ||||
| 11 | Source: SMMT |
Ten Top-Selling Car Models in the UK in 2020
In 2020, the Ford Fiesta was once again Britain’s best-selling car model. The Ford Fiesta has been Britain’s favorite car since 2009. However, in recent years, the Fiesta sold in lower numbers and the lead was increasingly smaller over the second-placed car.
The Vauxhall Corsa moved up two positions to gain second place in Britain for the first time since 2016. At that time, the gap to the Fiesta was more than 40,000 cars.
After three years as the second most popular car in the UK, the Volkswagen Golf slipped back to third. The Ford Focus dropped back to fourth, although the gap to the Fiesta was the smallest since 2008 when the Focus was the top-selling car in the UK.
The Mercedes-Benz A-Class was in fifth place for the second consecutive year. The Nissan Qashqai was again in sixth and the favorite SUV in Britain. The Qashqai should be helped by a model update in 2021.
The Mini and the VW Polo both moved up one rank position. The Mini has been in the British top ten since 2015, the VW Polo since 2010.
The Ford Puma and the Volvo XC40 were both new entrants on the top-ten list. After two years, both the Ford Kuga and Kia Sportage slipped out of the top-ten list.
The sharp drop in car sales in Britain in 2020 led to some interesting monthly car model rankings. The Mercedes A-Class led one month but more stunning was probably the Tesla Model 3 that was the best-selling car model in Britain in December 2020. In the same month, the new battery-electric only VW ID3 took fourth place.
Latest British Car Sales Data: 2023: Market Overview, Brands, Models, Electric; 2022-2008.
