England (UK) Full Year 2018: First podium for the Nissan Qashqai (-23.1%) despite freefall

The Nissan Qashqai ranks within the English podium for the first time.

Consult 6 years of England Historical data here

Thanks to our partnership with SMMT we can share with you a specific update for England. Keep in mind this is only a zoom in by UK nation, all sales figures are already included in the UK Full Year 2018 update. Also, this update includes the London data explored in a separate update. English new car sales drop 6.9% year-on-year in 2018 to 2.042.466 units, and with England representing 86.3% of total UK sales, the models ranking is traditionally very similar to the overall UK one. The one element that has an impact on the England ranking is the fact that most company leasing and rental car purchases are centralised in England, meaning models successful with fleet with see their position improved here. The Ford Fiesta (+1.7%) swims upstream and sees its share improve to 4% with a very comfortable 24.000 sales-advantage over the VW Golf (-12.1%). Quite bizarrely, even though it freefalls this year the Nissan Qashqai (-23.1%) lodges its first ever podium finish in England – this thanks to an even steeper drop by the Ford Focus (-29.4%) – a feat it has never managed in the UK as a whole. Meanwhile the Vauxhall Corsa (+5.5%) rallies back up three spots to #4 while the Mini (-3.8%), Mercedes A-Class (-0.5%) and VW Polo (-5.3%) all step up one spot to #6, #7 and #8 respectively, taking advantage of the disappearance of the Vauxhall Astra (#5 in 2017) and Mercedes C-Class (#6 in 2017) from the 2018 Top 10. Instead, the Ford Kuga and Kia Sportage make their very first appearance in the annual English Top 10, the same way they also do in the UK. A handful of nameplates posted their very first monthly Top 10 in England this year: the BMW 2 Series (February), VW Tiguan (June) peaking at #6 in October, Seat Leon (August), Suzuki Swift (August) and Hyundai Tucson (September).

Previous month: UK nations November 2018: First podium for the VW T-Roc, MG ZS up to #4 in Scotland

Previous year: England (UK) 2017: Fiesta and Golf lead, Mercedes C-Class up to #6

Two years ago: England (UK) 2016: First podium for the VW Golf

Full Year 2018 Top 10 models vs. Full Year 2017 figures below.

Full December 2018 Top 10 models below.