London (UK) Full Year 2017: VW Golf dethrones Ford Fiesta

The VW Golf is the best-selling nameplate in Greater London in 2017.

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

This is a new update on BSCB, made possible by our partnership with SMMT. We labelled it London for easy reading, but the area covered is actually Greater London. Sales in the UK’s capital are down 5.2% year-on-year in 2017 to 93.379 registrations, representing less than 4% of the national volume even though its population accounts for roughly 13% of the country’s at 8.5 million inhabitants. There’s a big change atop the London models ranking: thanks to sales up 9% on 2016, the VW Golf overtakes perennial leader the Ford Fiesta (-25%) and becomes the most popular nameplate in the city.

The ranking skews heavily towards small and compact cars, with 5 of them in the Top 6. But it’s the Mercedes C-Class that leaps up five spots and 15% on last year to climb onto the podium. The Audi A3 (+1%) gains three ranks to #4 (vs. #14 nationally) and the Mini gains one to #5. Reversely the VW Polo sinks 13% and two ranks to #6 while the Nissan Qashqai drops 17% and four spots to #7 but remains by far the best-selling crossover in the city. The Mercedes A-Class makes its entrance inside London’s Top 10 this year, making it two Mercedes, two Volkswagen and two Fords. Just as the Toyota Yaris remains #10, the Vauxhall Corsa disappears from the annual Top 10, meaning there are no Vauxhalls among Londons’ Top 10 best-sellers, potentially for the first time in decades.

Full Year 2017 Top 10 models vs. Full Year 2016 figures below.