UK August 2012: Audi A3 and BMW 1 Series in olympic form

BMW 1 Series

* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

New car sales in the UK are stable in August, up 0.1% year-on-year to 59,433 registrations which means the year-to-date total is up 3% on 2011 at 1,260,997 units. This month the entire Top 5 best-sellers are identical to the 2012 year-to-date ranking: the Ford Fiesta leads with 2,993 sales and 5%, followed by the Vauxhall Corsa at 4.1%, Ford Focus at 3.5%, VW Golf at 3.3% and Vauxhall Astra at 2.6%. The VW Polo is up 2 ranks to #6 at 2.5% and is now #7 year-to-date behind the Nissan Qashqai but above the BMW 3 Series, outside the Top 10 in August.

Audi A3

Two posh compacts are the heroes of the month in the UK: building on an already excellent score in July (#9), the Audi A3 is up to a superb 7th place with 1,243 sales and 2.1% share. It is the A3’s best ranking in the UK since March 2009 (#7) and its second-best ever monthly ranking in the country below the #6 it reached in January 2009. The A3 celebrates its 11th month in the UK Top 10, all within the last 3.5 years.

Vauxhall Zafira

The BMW 1 Series also shines in August, up to #10 with 1,136 units and 1.9%. It is the first time in 14 months the 1 Series ranks within the UK monthly Top 10, and only the 5th time overall after October 2008 (#10), September 2009 (#10), September 2010 (#10) and June 2011 (#9). Finally, thanks to the new generation of the model, the Vauxhall Zafira is also back in the Top 10 for the first time since February 2011 (#7) at #9 with 1,164 sales and 2% share.

Previous month: UK July 2012: Mercedes C-Class hits highest ranking ever

One year ago: UK August 2011: BMW 3 Series in Top 5 for the first time in 10 months

Full August 2012 Top 10 Ranking Table below.