2021 (Full Year) Britain: Best-Selling Car Brands in the UK

In 2021, Volkswagen became the best-selling car brand in Britain while both Audi and BMW brands also sold more cars in the UK than Ford.

In full calendar year 2021, Volkswagen finally became the best-selling car brand in Britain. Audi was the second most popular marque in the UK followed by BMW. Ford, the previous market leader, slipped to fourth with sales down a quarter. Toyota moved ahead of Mercedes-Benz and Vauxhall while Kia and Hyundai were the most improved top-ten brands in Britain in 2021. The new car market in Britain in 2021 expanded by a modest 1% to 1,647,181 passenger vehicle registrations. The Vauxhall Corsa was the top-selling car model and the Tesla Model 3 the best-selling electric car in Britain in 2021.

Latest British Car Sales Data: 2023: Market Overview, Brands, Models, Electric; 2022-2008.

Best-Selling Car Brands in Britain in 2021 (Full Year)

The 40 top-selling car marques in the UK in full-year 2021 were as follows according to the SMMT:

	MARQUE	2021	2020	% 20/21
	Total	1,647,181	1,631,064	0.99
1	Volkswagen	147,826	148,338	-0.35
2	Audi	117,953	107,842	9.38
3	BMW	116,577	115,476	0.95
4	Ford	116,305	152,777	-23.87
5	Toyota	100,895	91,793	9.92
6	Mercedes-Benz	97,945	110,883	-11.67
7	Vauxhall	91,452	95,444	-4.18
8	Kia	90,817	70,537	28.75
9	Hyundai	69,680	47,507	46.67
10	Nissan	68,494	71,932	-4.78
11	Peugeot	61,106	57,186	6.85
12	Skoda	55,561	58,693	-5.34
13	Land Rover	53,111	58,505	-9.22
14	Volvo	48,260	46,408	3.99
15	MINI	45,756	46,109	-0.77
16	SEAT	43,130	45,419	-5.04
17	MG	30,600	18,415	66.17
18	Citroen	30,204	28,059	7.64
19	Renault	29,836	42,740	-30.19
20	Honda	26,928	27,297	-1.35
21	Mazda	25,852	22,742	13.68
22	Suzuki	20,976	19,838	5.74
23	Fiat	20,154	19,253	4.68
24	Jaguar	18,868	25,513	-26.05
25	Dacia	17,568	18,918	-7.14
26	Lexus	13,878	13,727	1.10
27	Porsche	13,702	14,284	-4.07
28	Cupra	7,584	162	4,581.48
29	Mitsubishi	5,125	9,076	-43.53
30	Jeep	4,463	4,639	-3.79
31	Polestar	4,096	850	381.88
32	DS	2,362	2,379	-0.71
33	Abarth	2,335	2,349	-0.60
34	Subaru	2,107	951	121.56
35	smart	1,581	1,377	14.81
36	Alfa Romeo	1,574	2,107	-25.30
37	Ssangyong	1,525	1,488	2.49
38	Bentley	1,348	1,337	0.82
39	Maserati	765	585	30.77
40	Alpine	202	105	92.38
	Other Imports	36,347	26,086	39.34
	Other British	2,206	1,938	13.83
	Source: SMMT

Top 10 Best-Selling Car Brands in the UK in 2021

In full-year 2021, Volkswagen, after four years in second place, finally dethroned Ford as the best-selling car brand in Britain. Although VW sales in the UK were slightly weaker, Volkswagen cut a deficit of 4,000 cars in 2020 to an advantage of 30,000 cars over Ford.

Audi increased sales in Britain in 2021 by almost a tenth to move up from fifth in 2020 to second largest car brand in Britain for the first time ever. BMW sales were in line with the broader market to maintain third place — the only top-ten brand in the same rank position in the UK as a year ago.

Ford slipped to only fourth place in Britain in 2021 after seemingly forever the favorite car brand of the British. Ford sales were down by almost a quarter in the UK in 2021. (Ford generally struggled in Europe with supply-chain shortage: in Germany, Ford sales were down by more than a third and in France down by a fifth.) The Ford Fiesta also lost the claim to being Britain’s favorite car for the first time since 2009.

Toyota sales in the UK increased by ten percent and the Japanese carmaker improved to fifth place in Britain from seventh. Mercedes-Benz and Vauxhall slipped behind Toyota with weaker sales, although the Vauxhall Corsa became Britain’s favorite car model in 2021.

Kia improved one sales rank while Hyundai entered the top ten from 13th. Both Korean brands were the best-performing top ten marques in the UK in 2021. Nissan slipped from 8th to tenth with sales down by 5%.

Tesla sales were not listed individually by the SMMT. However, the Tesla Model 3 was the best-selling electric car model in Britain in 2021, and the second most popular car model overall, with 34,783 sales. If listed separately, Tesla would likely be the 17th largest car brand in Britain.

The worst-performing brands were Mitsubishi, Renault, and Jaguar, although Ford lost the most volume.

The best-performing brands in the UK in 2021 were Cupra and Polestar in their first full years on the British market, followed by Subaru, Alpine, MG, and Hyundai.

The Vauxhall Corsa was Britain’s favorite car model in 2021 and the Tesla Model 3 was the top-selling electric car.

Latest British Car Sales Data: 2023: Market Overview, Brands, Models, Electric; 2022-2008.