2022 (Full Year) Britain: Best-Selling Car Brands in the UK

In full-year 2022, Volkswagen remained the best-selling car brand in Britain but Ford performed strongly to move ahead of luxury German brands Audi and BMW.

In full-year 2022, Volkswagen remained the best-selling car brand in Britain but Ford performed strongly to move ahead of luxury German brands Audi and BMW.
VW ID.5 © Volkswagen AG

2022 (January to December): Volkswagen was the leading car marque in the United Kingdom for the second consecutive year despite lower sales. Ford increased sales to gain second place while Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz lost market share.

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

Best-Selling Car Brands in Britain in 2022 (Full Year)

The top-selling car marques in the UK in the full-year 2022 were as follows according to the SMMT:

MARQUE20222021% 22/21
Total1,614,0631,647,181-2.01
1Volkswagen131,850147,826-10.81
2Ford126,826116,3059.05
3Audi110,144117,953-6.62
4BMW108,624116,577-6.82
5Toyota102,181100,8951.27
6Kia100,19190,81710.32
7Vauxhall83,69191,452-8.49
8Mercedes-Benz80,91097,945-17.39
9Hyundai80,41969,68015.41
10Nissan76,71168,49412.00
11Tesla54,62234,85356.72
12Peugeot52,26461,106-14.47
13MG51,05030,60066.83
14Skoda48,84855,561-12.08
15MINI45,85445,7560.21
16Land Rover43,18053,111-18.70
17Volvo36,50648,260-24.36
18Renault32,28529,8368.21
19Citroen28,48730,204-5.68
20Dacia27,22117,56854.95
21Mazda25,20925,852-2.49
22Honda24,08426,928-10.56
23SEAT22,14043,130-48.67
24Fiat19,69820,154-2.26
25Porsche18,26713,70233.32
26Suzuki17,37820,976-17.15
27Cupra14,3837,58489.65
28Jaguar12,16518,868-35.53
29Lexus10,67513,878-23.08
30Polestar7,3454,09679.32
31DS3,6742,36255.55
32Jeep2,5254,463-43.42
33Bentley1,6291,34820.85
34Alfa Romeo1,5761,5740.13
35Abarth1,5442,335-33.88
36Ssangyong1,5361,5250.72
37Subaru1,3912,107-33.98
38smart1,2561,581-20.56
39Genesis1,000127687.40
40Maserati720765-5.88
41Alpine28820242.57
42GM Ora6800.00
Source: SMMT

Top 10 Largest Car Brands in the UK in 2022

For the second consecutive year, Volkswagen was the top-selling car marque in Britain. However, VW lost market share with sales down by 11%.

Ford, for years the leading brand in the UK, increased sales by 9% to improve from fourth to second. Ford also had higher sales in other major European car markets in 2022 including Germany and France.

Ford leapfrogged Audi and BMW which both had sales down by 7%. Mercedes-Benz performed even worse in Britain in 2022 with sales down 17%.

Toyota sales were flat but sufficient to maintain fifth place. Kia increased sales by 10% to improve two rank positions while weak sales by Vauxhall didn’t cost it a rank position.

Hyundai and Nissan were the best-performing top-ten brands in Britain in 2022 but both remained in the same relative rank positions as a year ago. For the first time ever, the Nissan Qashqai was the best-selling car model in Britain in 2022.

The most-improved brands in Britain in 2022 were Genesis, Cupra, Polestar, and Tesla.

The worst-performing brands in Britain in 2022 were Seat, Jeep, and Jaguar.

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

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.