UK August 2021: Ford Puma scores first ever win in market down -22%

The Ford Puma is the best-selling vehicle in the UK in August.

New car sales in the UK are down a further -22% year-on-year in August to just 68.033 units, the lowest August tally since 2013 (65.937), leading to a year-to-date volume up 20.3% to 1.101.302 units. August 2021 is down -7.6% on the 2010-2019 average of 73.598 and the YTD volume is down -25.4% on the 2010-2019 January-August average of 1.475.256. We at BSCB forecast a Full Year 2021 up 6.3% to 1.73 million sales. Private sales are the only channel to lose less ground than the market this month at -15.2% to 33.771 and 49.6% share vs. 45.7% in August 2020. Fleet sales drop -27.5% to 33.315 and 49% share vs. 52.7% while business sales sink -34.7% to 947. Year-to-date, this time private sales are shy at +16.1% to 504.311 and 45.8% share vs. 47.4% a year ago while fleet sales are solid at +24.2% to 575.718 and 52.3% share vs. 50.6% last year and business sales are up 19.4% to 21.273.

Looking at fuel type, petrol skids down -40.4% to 29.451 and 43.3% share vs. 56.6% a year ago, diesel implodes -64.5% to 5.077 and 7.5% share vs. 16.4% in August 2020. Mild Hybrids (MHEV) gain 36.9% to 13.007 and 19.2% share vs. 10.9% last year, HEV is up 45.7% to 8.061 and 11.8% share vs. 6.3%, BEV is up 32.2% to 7.388 and 10.9% share vs. 6.4% and PHEV surges 72.1% to 5.049 and 7.4% share vs. 3.4% a year ago. Year-to-date, petrol is down -3% to 527.284 and 47.9% share vs. 59.3% over the same period in 2020, diesel sinks -34% to 106.947 and 9.7% share vs. 17.7%, MHEV soars 164.6% to 206.173 and 18.7% vs. 8.5% last year, HEV up 65.8% to 95.322 and 8.7% vs. 6.3%, BEV surges 106.7% to 92.420 and 8.4% share vs. 4.9% and PHEV is up 143.6% to 73.156 and 6.6% share vs. 3.3% over the first 8 months of 2020.

August 2005-2021 total volumes. Source SMMT

In the brands ranking, Volkswagen (-20.5%) continues to dominate at 10.3% share vs. 9.5% so far this year, cementing its YTD lead over Ford to over 16.000 sales. Audi (-5.9%) resists well to score a fourth consecutive record #2 finish, outselling an imploding Ford (-52%) once again. Down one spot on July to #4, Toyota posts a fantastic 17.8% year-on-year gain, the largest in the Top 13. Hyundai (+9.7%) and Kia (+3.6%) also shine in the remainder of the Top 10 whereas Vauxhall (-36.4%), Skoda (-31.3%) and Mercedes (-27.1%) struggle. Further down, Polestar (+738.5%), Lexus (+119.6%), Subaru (+100%), Alpine (+66.7%), MG (+47.9%), Mazda (+37.2%), Suzuki (+25.4%) and Bentley (+24.1%) all perform fantastically.

Model-wise, in a very volatile and fragmented market (the Top 10 fits within less than 800 sales), like last month we have a new leader: the Ford Puma (-15.4%) scores its very first win in the world here in the UK. Leader in July, the VW Polo (+20.1%) drops to a still very impressive 2nd place with 2.6% share vs. 1.8% and #6 so far this year. The Toyota Yaris (+70.1%) dips one spot on last month to #3 and remains #8 year-to-date vs. #14 last year, as does the Kia Sportage to #4. The BMW 3 Series rallies back inside the Top 10 at #5 and now ranks #9 year-to-date. The Hyundai Tucson soars to a best-ever #6, the nameplate’s second Top 10 finish after April 2019 (#10), while the Toyota Corolla breaks into the Top 10 for the first time at #10. Still leaders year-to-date, the Vauxhall Corsa (-44%) and Ford Fiesta (-68.7%) both implode.

Previous month: UK July 2021: Toyota outsells Ford, VW Polo signs first win in market down -29.5% to lowest July in 23 years

One year ago: UK August 2020: Sales swing back down -5.8%, Ford Puma soars to record #4, Kia Niro in Top 10

Full August 2021 Top 42 brands and Top 10 models below.