UK April 2016: Volkswagen above Vauxhall, Kia Sportage in Top 10 again

Kia Sportage

* See the Top 10 best-selling models and Top 40 brands by clicking on the title *

UK new car sales markedly slow down their growth in April at just +2% to 189.505 registrations, still the best April score in over a decade – since 2003 when 194.312 new cars were registered. This means the year-to-date total is now up 4% to 961.285 units. Below Ford down 7% to 23.311 sales and 12.3% share, as it was also the case a year ago Volkswagen outsells Vauxhall despite sales down 10% to 16.877 and 8.9% vs. 16.037 and 8.5% (-3%). In 4th place, Audi reaches an outstanding 7.2% share ahead of Mercedes (+20%), BMW (+1%), Nissan (+2%) and Hyundai (+8%). Kia (+12%), Land Rover (+17%), Renault (+26%) and Honda (+36%) are the other double-digit gainers inside the Top 20. Below, Jaguar (+109%), Suzuki (+27%), Jeep (+115%), Infiniti (+91%) and Bentley (+89%) also shine.

April UK registrations 2000-2016 (Source: SMMT):

Model-wise, the Ford Fiesta remains the best-seller in the country despite sales down a harsh 23% to 7.913. In fact, five of the top 7 best-sellers are down this month, with the Ford Focus (-12%), VW Polo (-13%) and Vauxhall Corsa (-18%) suffering the most. Keeping their head above the water are the VW Golf (+5%) up to a stunning 2nd place overall and the Vauxhall Astra up 14% to #5 thanks to the new model. The event in the Top 10 is however the return of the Kia Sportage: at #9 with 3.167 sales, it’s the nameplate’s 2nd incursion among UK’s ten favourites after last February (#9 also) and after ranking #12 in record-high March. The new generation clearly has hit a nerve with UK consumers. This 2nd stint inside the Top 10 makes the Sportage only the 2nd Koran models to ever rank inside the monthly UK Top 10 more than once along with the Hyundai i10 (six times between July 2009 and December 2011, peaking at #3 in August 2009).

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Previous month: UK March 2016: First half-million sales month this century

One year ago: UK April 2015: Volkswagen above Vauxhall in best April in a decade

Full April 2016 Top 10 models and Top 40 brands below.