UK June 2024: Kia Sportage and Nissan Juke top market up 1.1%

The Kia Sportage repeats at #1 in the UK.

It’s a 23rd consecutive month of year-on-year gains for the UK market in June at a meagre +1.1% to 179,263 units, according to SMMT. This way, the H1 tally passes the million mark for the first time since 2019 at 1,006.763 (+6%). Once again, the market is pulled up by robust fleet sales at +14.2% to 105,8686 and 59.1% share vs. 52.3% a year ago whereas private sales sink -15.3% to 67,625 and 37.7% share vs. 45% a year ago. Marginal business sales are up 22% to 5.770 and 3.2% share vs. 2.7%. The year-to-date picture is similar with fleet sales up 22.3% to 600,404 and 59.6% share vs. 51.7% over the same period in 2023 and private sales skidding -12% to 382,881 and 38% share vs. 45.8% a year ago. Business sales edge down -0.6% to 23,478 and 2.3% share vs. 2.5%.

All categories of electrified vehicles outpace the market this month with sizeable gains. PHEVs surge 30% to 16,604 and 9.3% share vs. 7.2% in June 2023, HEVs are up 27.2% to 26,702 and 14.9% share vs. 11.8% and BEVs up 7.4% to 34,034 and 19% share, its highest for the year and to be compared with 17.9% a year ago. In contrast petrol is down -7.8% to 91,227 and 50.9% share vs. 55.8% last year and diesel sinks -17.2% to 10,696 and 6% share vs. 7.3%. Year-to-date, PHEVs once again fare best at +31.2% to 81,522 sales and 8.1% share vs. 6.5% over the same period in 2023, followed by HEVs up 15.2% to 137,838 and 13.7% share vs. 12.6% and BEVs up 9.2% to 167,096 and 16.6%, a slight improvement on the 16.1% it held over H1 2023. More work subsidising BEV purchases must be done as according to SMMT, less than 1 in 5 new BEVs are purchased by private buyers.

In the brands ranking, Volkswagen (+1.8%) easily holds onto the pole position with 8.6% share, one percentage point above a euphoric BMW (+16.8%) at 7.6%. Audi drops -2.5% to #3, a ranking it also holds year-to-date. Excellent month also for Toyota (+17.2%) up five spots on May to #4 and 6.2% share, its best result since March 2023 (#4 and 6.7% share). The next four carmakers all outrun the market, with Nissan (+14.6%) the most dynamic followed by Hyundai (+9%), Mercedes (+8.5%) and Kia (+7.6%). One of the biggest news of the month is the implosion of Ford, off -42.4% year-on-year to a dismal 9th place with just 4.7% share. This is the manufacturer’s worst showing since finishing #10 with 4.6% share in December 2021. MG (+9.3%) is up year-on-year but drops three ranks on last month to #10. Renault (+44.7%), Volvo (+42.3%) and Seat (+35.3%) also impress.

Over in the models lane, the Kia Sportage (+33.5%) sports another outstanding month and repeats at #1 with 2.3% share, cementing its YTD 2nd place. The Nissan Juke (+19.5%) surges eight spots on May to land in 2nd place, its best ranking since March 2023 when it also ranked #2. The Tesla Model Y (-34.2%) makes its reappearance in the Top 10 at #3 albeit enduring a harsh year-on-year decline. It still doesn’t rank within the YTD Top 10 whereas it placed #5 over the Full Year 2023. The VW Golf (+44.7%) and BMW 1 Series (+37.4%) excel and round out the Top 5. Still leader YTD, the Ford Puma (-41.9%) sinks to #8 for the month with just 1.8% of the market. The Tesla Model 3 (+59.8%) scores its first Top 10 finish since August 2023 at #10.

Previous month: UK May 2024: 22nd straight month of growth, Kia Sportage in the lead

One year ago: UK June 2023: Tesla Model Y and Ford Puma top market up 25.8%

Full June 2024 Top 45 All brands and Top 10 models below.