UK 1998: Ford Fiesta leads, Escort leaves, Focus arrives

Ford Fiesta

* See the Top 30 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Florian *

In 1998 no less than four Fords flirted with the title of UK’s best-selling car. The Ford Escort made the most of its last year of life and even climbed back on top of the ranking during the First Half of the year, but it is the Ford Fiesta that finished the year on top for the third time in a row with 116,110 sales (-3%) vs. 113,560 for the Escort.

Ford Escort

The Ford Mondeo stayed strong throughout the year and finished it at #3 with 99,729 units (-7%), while the Ford Focus, a bold Escort replacement, was off to a flying start during the last 3 months of the year and sold 8,571 units in total. The 3 usual Vauxhalls follow: the Vectra (-1%), Astra (-9%) and Corsa (-5%). The Peugeot 306 continues its impressive journey in the UK models ranking, beating its volume record 5 years after its original launch and breaking the foreign model annual volume record for the fourth year in a row at 70,169 sales and #7.

Ford Focus

In fact the entire Top 10 is absolutely identical to 1997’s, a very rare feat. 1998 is the last year Rover managed to place at least one model within the annual Top 10: the Rover 200 is #9 and the Rover 400 is #10. The Fiat Punto is up 4 spots and 15% to #11, the Renault Megane is up 6 ranks and 56% to #16 and 47,890 sales, while the VW Passat (#24), Mercedes C Class (#25), Toyota Avensis (#26) and Corolla (#28) all break into the Top 30.

Full Year 1998 Top 30 and 6 + 10 months Top 10 Ranking Tables below.