UK 1980-1981: Ford Cortina, Escort and Fiesta on top

Ford Cortina

* See the Top 15 best-selling models by clicking on ‘Read more’ at end of post! *

Helped by a facelift in 1979, the Ford Cortina leads the British car market in 1980 with 190,281 sales and in 1981 with 159,804. Ford monopolises the podium both years with the Escort #2 at 122,357 units then 141,081, and the Fiesta #3 with 91,661 sales in 1980 and 110,753 in 1981.

Ford Fiesta

Austin Metro

Launched in 1980 as the miniMetro to give the Mini a big brother, the Austin Metro ranks 4th for its first full year of sales in 1981 with 110,283 sales, better than any Mini year since 1965… The Morris Marina is replaced by the Ital over the period, #5 in 1981. The best selling foreign model is the Renault 18 in 1980 (#10) and the Datsun Cherry in 1981 at a fantastic 8th place, the highest rank ever for a Japanese model.

1980 and 1981 Top 15 Ranking Tables: see ‘Read more’ below the Datsun Cherry pic.

Datsun Cherry