UK March 2026: Jaecoo 7 overall best-seller!

The Jaecoo 7 is #1 in the UK in March.

It’s a strong month for UK new car sales, with March, traditionally the biggest month of the year as it coincides with the biannual license plate change, up 6.6% year-on-year to 380,627 units. This is the best March result since pre-pandemic 2019. The year-to-date tally is now up 5.9% to 614,854. Encouragingly, private sales pull the market up at 10.1% to 162,470 units and 42.7% share vs. 41.3% a year ago. Fleet sales are up 3.5% to 208,853 and 54.9% share vs. 56.5% in March 2025 and business sales are up 18.8% to 9,304 and 2.4% share vs. 2.2%. Over Q1, private sales are up 9.9% to 250,094 and 40.7% share vs. 39.2% over the same period in 2025, fleet sales progress 2.8% to 350,632 and 57% share vs. 58.8% and business sales soar 20.1% to 14,128 and 2.3% share vs. 2%.

BEV sales surge 24.2% to 86,120 and 22.6% share vs. 19.4% a year ago. This is the largest ever monthly volume for BEVs in the UK, however the market share is well below the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate target of 33% for 2026. Meanwhile HEVs are up 7.3% to 60,268 and 15.8% share vs. 15.7% in March 2025, PHEVs soar 46.9% to 49,671 and 13% share vs. 9.5%, petrol drops -6.1% to 165,997 and 43.6% share vs. 49.5% and diesel sinks -11.4% to 18,571 and 4.9% share vs. 5.9%. Year-to-date, BEVs are up 14.5% to 137,614 and 22.4% share vs. 20.7% over Q1 2025, HEVs are up 6.2% to 91,372 and 14.9% share vs. 14.8%, PHEVs up 46.5% to 78,666 and 12.8% share vs. 9.2%, petrol down -3.5% to 276,689 and 45% share vs. 49.4% and diesel down -9.8% to 30,513 and 5% share vs. 5.8%.

In the brands ranking, the top 2 manufacturers go against the market and lose ground year-on-year. Volkswagen (-13.3%) is hit hard but easily holds onto the pole position with 7.2% share while BMW (-1.8%) edges down to 5.6% of the market. Kia (+0.7%) is up four spots on February to #3 and ranks #2 over Q1 vs. #4 over the Full Year 2025. Ford (-18.9%) also struggles while Audi (+2.7%) rounds out the Top 5 like last month and YTD. BYD surges 134% to #11 and 4% share and is up 130.1% YTD. Jaecoo (+573.8%) is up to #17 overall, with Alpine (+1723.1%), Leapmotor (+879.8%), Omoda (+184.2%) and Citroen (+144%) posting the largest gains below.

Model-wise, it’s a lightning strike atop the charts, with the Chinese Jaecoo 7 taking the overall lead in the all-important March month. It holds 2.6% of the market vs. 2.4% for the traditional leader, the Ford Puma. The Puma however remains #1 year-to-date but for just 559 sales. The Nissan Qashqai (+27.4%) is very robust, climbing back up from outside the February Top 10 directly into third place. The Kia Sportage (-7.2%) and Vauxhall Corsa (-7.8%) disappoint and round out the Top 5. The Tesla Model Y (#9) and BMW 1 Series (#10) point their bonnet inside the March Top 10.

Previous month: UK February 2026: Best February in 22 years, Ford Puma smashes share record

One year ago: UK March 2025: BEVs (+43.2%), VW (+42.5%) and Ford (+38.8%) lift market up 12.4%

Full March 2026 Top 53 All brands and Top 10 models below.