UK May 2022: Ford (-2.9%) resists, places Kuga at #3 in market accelerating its fall (-20.6%)

The Ford Kuga is up to #3 overall in the UK in May.

Hit by the continued effect of supply chain issues, the UK new car market accelerates its fall in May to -20.6% year-on-year at 123,394 registrations. When removing pandemic-hit May 2020, this is the weakest May volume since 1992 and sales are down -32.3% on the 2019 pre-pandemic level. The year-to-date tally is now down -8.7% to 661,121 units, off -40.6% on the pre-pandemic five-year YTD average of 1,113,434 sales. Once again private sales fare better than the market at -10.3% to 66,237 units and 53.2% share vs. 47.1% a year ago as carmakers scramble to satisfy the more profitable demand of this channel. Fleet sales fall -29.9% to 55,649 and 44.7% vs. 50.7% in May 2021 while business sales are down -27.1% to 2,508 and 2% vs. 2.2%. Year-to-date, private sales (+11.4%) are actually up to 358,581 units and 54.2% share vs. 44.5% a year ago while fleets freefall -26% to 287,200 and 43.4% share vs. 53.7% over the same period in 2021. The UK market has indeed completely turned from a fleet-focused market to a private-focused one. Business sales are also up at 13.5% to a much more modest 15,340 units and 2.3% share vs. 1.9% in 2021.

In terms of fuel/transmission type, diesel continues to implode at -50.8% (!) to 7,614 and 6.1% share vs. 9.9% in May 2021, petrol is down -25.1% to 56,767 and 45.6% share vs. 48.4% a year ago, MHEV is off -23.2% to 22,665 and 18.2% share vs. 18.8% in May 2021, HEV is up 12% to 14,561 and 11.7% share vs. 8.3%, BEV is up 17.7% to 15,448 and 12.4% share vs. 8.4% and PHEV is down -25.5% to 7,339 and 5.9% share vs. 6.3%. Year-to-date, diesel dives -51.3% to 38,025 and 5.8% share vs. 10.8% over the same period in 2021, petrol is down -18.8% to 289,169 and 43.7% vs. 49.2%, MHEV is down -8.9% to 121,242 and 18.3% share vs. 18.4% last year, HEV soars 35.9% to 76,624 and 11.6% share vs. 7.8%, BEV surges 71.2% to 92,512 and 14% share vs. 7.5% a year ago and PHEV edges down -5.5% to 43,549 and 6.6% share vs. 6.4% in 2021.

Source: SMMT

Ford (-2.9%) resists very well this time to hold onto the #1 spot both for the month and year-to-date with 8.9% and 7.7% share respectively. Volkswagen (-36%) is in complete perdition but gains three places on April to #2 and now ranks #4 year-to-date (it was #1 over the Full Year 2021). Audi (-29.5%) is knocked down to #3 above BMW (-16.8%). Kia (+3.9%) is the only gainer in the Top 8 at #5, distancing Vauxhall (-17%) back up three spots to #6, Mercedes (-18.9%) and Toyota (-14.8%) all outpacing the market. Hyundai (+11.7%) signs the only double-digit gain in the Top 10. Further down, Bentley (+81.6%), Polestar (+79.1%), Dacia (+58.2%), Porsche (+57.9%), Cupra (+51.1%), DS (+41.5%), Abarth (+32.9%), MG (+28.1%) and Citroen (+13.6%) make themselves noticed with fantastic gains.

After months of volatility, the UK models ranking returns to a bit of normalcy this month, with the May Top 10 looking a lot closer than the YTD one. The Vauxhall Corsa (+20.8%) is back in the pole position it holds year-to-date with 3.5% of the market vs. 2.6% so far this year. The Ford Puma (+13.4%) also ranks like YTD at #2 while the Ford Kuga surges seven spots on last month to land at #3, its highest ranking since November 2019 (#2). The VW Golf (-37.3%) signs its first Top 10 finish of the year (it ranked #1 outright a year ago in May 2021) and breaks into the YTD Top 10 as a result at #9. The Mini (-0.9%) equals its YTD market share at 2% and is down two ranks on last month to #5. The Nissan Qashqai (+40%) continues to ride on its new generation but drops 5 spots on April to #6. The Kia Niro (#8) and Hyundai Tucson (#10) confirm they now truly belong to the UK Top 10, and rank respectively #6 and #8 year-to-date.

Previous month: UK April 2022: Nissan Qashqai signs 2nd ever win in market off -15.8%

One year ago: UK May 2021: Audi outsells Ford for the first time, VW Golf best-seller in market down -14.7% on two years ago

Full May 2022 Top 40 All-brands and Top 10 models below.