UK May 2026: Vauxhall Frontera breaks into Top 10
The Vauxhall Frontera ends May in 9th place.
New car sales in the UK gain 7.1% year-on-year in May to 160,662 units, the best May result since pre-pandemic 2019 but still -12.6% below the level of 7 years ago. The year-to-date volume after 5 months is up 8.7% to 924,763. Encouragingly, private sales are up 17.2% to 65,781 and 40.9% share vs. 37.4% a year ago while fleet sales are up just 1.8% to 91,765 and 57.1% share vs. 60% in May 2025. Business sales drop -18.8% to 3,116 and 1.9% share vs. 2.6%. In terms of power source, BEVs surge 34.2% to 43,931 and 27.3% share vs. 21.8% a year ago, PHEVs are up 23.9% to 22,167 and 13.8% share vs. 11.9%, HEVs edge up 1.8% to 20,719 and 12.9% share vs. 13.6%, petrol is down -7.1% to 66,223 and 41.2% share vs. 47.5% and diesel skids -2.2% to 7,622 and 4.7% share vs. 5.2%.
Looking at the brands ranking, Volkswagen (+4%) easily stays on top at 8.8% share, significantly above the 8% it holds year-to-date. Audi (+12.4%) leapfrogs past Kia (+4.4%), BMW (-8.8%) and Ford (-18.6%) to land in 2nd place, a ranking it last held in November. Vauxhall (+9.4%) delivers a rare strong month and climbs back up five spots on April to #5. MG (+12.6%) is also strong at #6 and 4.6% share. Hyundai (-16.3%) and Skoda (-10.9%) are hit hard below. Further down, Jaecoo (+210.1%) is up five ranks on last month to #13, a new ranking record for the brand eclipsing the #17 of last March. BYD (+70.5%) is also on fire at #14 while Mini (+78.7%) does even better at #15. Omoda (+84.6%), Citroen (+60.1%) and Tesla (+45.5%) make themselves noticed.
Model-wise, the Ford Puma (+8.8%) and Kia Sportage (+5.6%) are in the lead again while the Vauxhall Corsa (+14.2%) is up four ranks on last month to #3, the nameplate’s first podium finish since April 2025. Surprise leader in March, the Jaecoo 7 is back up six spots to #4 and remains at #3 year-to-date. The Nissan Qashqai (-7.4%) is in difficulty and rounds out the Top 5. The VW Golf (+42.5%), Mini Cooper (+25.3%) and VW Tiguan (+21.6%) are all in outstanding shape below. Finally, the Vauxhall Frontera breaks into the UK Top 10 for the very first time at #9 with 1.5% share.
Previous month: UK April 2026: Market up 24% on low year-ago volumes, Omoda 5 breaks into Top 10
One year ago: UK May 2025: Stable market (+1.6%), Hyundai Kona hits record ranking
Full May 2026 Top 55 All brands and Top 10 models below.
UK May 2026 – brands:
| Pos | Brand | May-26 | % | /25 | Apr | 2026 | % | /25 | Pos | FY25 |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 14,110 | 8.8% | + 4.0% | 1 | 73,988 | 8.0% | – 4.2% | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Audi | 9,098 | 5.7% | + 12.4% | 5 | 47,231 | 5.1% | + 7.6% | 5 | 5 |
| 3 | Kia | 8,955 | 5.6% | + 4.4% | 2 | 52,493 | 5.7% | + 1.0% | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | BMW | 8,503 | 5.3% | – 8.8% | 3 | 51,110 | 5.5% | – 3.5% | 3 | 2 |
| 5 | Vauxhall | 7,675 | 4.8% | + 9.4% | 10 | 41,404 | 4.5% | + 4.7% | 7 | 13 |
| 6 | MG | 7,463 | 4.6% | + 12.6% | 6 | 38,346 | 4.1% | + 9.4% | 8 | 10 |
| 7 | Ford | 6,911 | 4.3% | – 18.6% | 4 | 47,915 | 5.2% | – 4.5% | 4 | 3 |
| 8 | Skoda | 6,621 | 4.1% | – 10.9% | 8 | 37,296 | 4.0% | + 5.1% | 9 | 11 |
| 9 | Mercedes | 6,552 | 4.1% | – 7.5% | 7 | 41,837 | 4.5% | + 4.9% | 6 | 9 |
| 10 | Toyota | 6,187 | 3.9% | – 4.5% | 14 | 36,576 | 4.0% | – 3.6% | 10 | 7 |
| 11 | Hyundai | 6,077 | 3.8% | – 16.3% | 9 | 36,355 | 3.9% | – 6.0% | 11 | 6 |
| 12 | Renault | 5,646 | 3.5% | + 8.2% | 15 | 29,291 | 3.2% | + 7.4% | 16 | 15 |
| 13 | Jaecoo | 5,207 | 3.2% | + 210.1% | 18 | 27,996 | 3.0% | + 369.2% | 18 | 23 |
| 14 | BYD | 5,157 | 3.2% | + 70.5% | 12 | 31,553 | 3.4% | + 113.1% | 14 | 17 |
| 15 | Mini | 5,151 | 3.2% | + 78.7% | 16 | 23,965 | 2.6% | + 29.9% | 19 | 18 |
| 16 | Peugeot | 5,114 | 3.2% | – 16.9% | 11 | 35,310 | 3.8% | – 13.0% | 12 | 12 |
| 17 | Land Rover | 4,934 | 3.1% | + 6.3% | 19 | 30,247 | 3.3% | + 2.3% | 15 | 16 |
| 18 | Volvo | 4,918 | 3.1% | – 0.3% | 13 | 29,035 | 3.1% | + 3.2% | 17 | 14 |
| 19 | Nissan | 4,832 | 3.0% | – 29.8% | 17 | 33,221 | 3.6% | – 16.2% | 13 | 8 |
| 20 | Cupra | 3,484 | 2.2% | + 14.7% | 20 | 18,655 | 2.0% | + 22.1% | 20 | 20 |
| 21 | Chery | 3,166 | 2.0% | new | 22 | 14,143 | 1.5% | new | 24 | 34 |
| 22 | Tesla | 2,934 | 1.8% | + 45.5% | 33 | 15,504 | 1.7% | + 3.3% | 21 | 19 |
| 23 | Omoda | 2,754 | 1.7% | + 84.6% | 21 | 15,078 | 1.6% | + 169.4% | 22 | 27 |
| 24 | Citroen | 2,084 | 1.3% | + 60.1% | 23 | 14,226 | 1.5% | + 114.0% | 23 | 26 |
| 25 | Dacia | 2,048 | 1.3% | – 5.1% | 24 | 12,298 | 1.3% | – 8.2% | 26 | 22 |
| 26 | Suzuki | 1,656 | 1.0% | + 45.0% | 27 | 11,565 | 1.3% | + 43.1% | 27 | 29 |
| 27 | Porsche | 1,539 | 1.0% | + 10.9% | 26 | 7,580 | 0.8% | – 4.6% | 29 | 28 |
| 28 | Seat | 1,412 | 0.9% | – 23.6% | 34 | 7,032 | 0.8% | – 33.9% | 30 | 25 |
| 29 | Polestar | 1,305 | 0.8% | + 11.2% | 31 | 6,532 | 0.7% | + 14.0% | 31 | 30 |
| 30 | Mazda | 1,276 | 0.8% | – 51.7% | 30 | 12,945 | 1.4% | – 14.7% | 25 | 21 |
| 31 | Honda | 1,241 | 0.8% | – 13.5% | 29 | 9,747 | 1.1% | – 15.6% | 28 | 24 |
| 32 | Lexus | 1,177 | 0.7% | – 21.3% | 28 | 6,400 | 0.7% | – 7.8% | 32 | 31 |
| 33 | Geely | 1,134 | 0.7% | new | 25 | 4,378 | 0.5% | new | 35 | 47 |
| 34 | Leapmotor | 944 | 0.6% | + 863.3% | 36 | 4,620 | 0.5% | + 1057.9% | 34 | 35 |
| 35 | Jeep | 685 | 0.4% | – 36.7% | 32 | 5,294 | 0.6% | – 11.5% | 33 | 32 |
| 36 | Fiat | 606 | 0.4% | – 39.8% | 35 | 2,926 | 0.3% | – 45.6% | 36 | 33 |
| 37 | Alpine | 368 | 0.2% | + 843.6% | 37 | 1,453 | 0.2% | + 952.9% | 37 | 39 |
| 38 | Alfa Romeo | 290 | 0.2% | + 82.4% | 39 | 1,239 | 0.1% | + 11.7% | 39 | 36 |
| 39 | Changan | 287 | 0.2% | new | 38 | 1,256 | 0.1% | new | 38 | 49 |
| 40 | Smart | 165 | 0.1% | + 75.5% | 40 | 905 | 0.1% | + 39.0% | 40 | 38 |
| 41 | Genesis | 116 | 0.1% | – 31.4% | 43 | 479 | 0.1% | – 23.8% | 44 | 42 |
| 42 | Lotus | 85 | 0.1% | + 51.8% | 44 | 384 | 0.0% | – 48.4% | 45 | n/a |
| 43 | Xpeng | 81 | 0.1% | + 1250.0% | 42 | 522 | 0.1% | + 923.5% | 43 | 45 |
| 44 | Subaru | 70 | 0.0% | – 39.7% | 45 | 779 | 0.1% | – 24.5% | 41 | 37 |
| 45 | Abarth | 69 | 0.0% | + 176.0% | 46 | 198 | 0.0% | + 7.6% | 46 | 50 |
| 46 | KGM | 63 | 0.0% | – 37.6% | 41 | 734 | 0.1% | + 7.0% | 42 | 41 |
| 47 | Maserati | 55 | 0.0% | + 129.2% | 47 | 191 | 0.0% | + 38.4% | 47 | 48 |
| 48 | Aion | 31 | 0.0% | new | – | 31 | 0.0% | new | 51 | – |
| 49 | Ineos | 16 | 0.0% | – 44.8% | 48 | 117 | 0.0% | + 10.4% | 49 | 51 |
| 50 | GWM Ora | 12 | 0.0% | – 63.6% | 49 | 137 | 0.0% | – 12.7% | 48 | 46 |
| 51 | Mitsubishi | 12 | 0.0% | n/a | – | 12 | 0.0% | n/a | 54 | |
| 52 | DS | 9 | 0.0% | – 93.6% | 50 | 68 | 0.0% | – 81.7% | 50 | 43 |
| 53 | Chevrolet | 8 | 0.0% | n/a | 51 | 30 | 0.0% | – 3.2% | 52 | 52 |
| 54 | Skywell | 7 | 0.0% | n/a | 52 | 26 | 0.0% | + 188.9% | 53 | 54 |
| 54 | Maxus | 2 | 0.0% | – 33.3% | – | 2 | 0.0% | – 94.3% | 55 | 53 |
| 55 | Jaguar | 0 | 0.0% | n/a | – | 7 | 0.0% | – 99.6% | 54 | 40 |
| – | Other British | 210 | 0.1% | + 10.5% | – | 1,315 | 0.1% | – 13.4% | – | – |
| – | Other Imports | 150 | 0.1% | – 7.4% | – | 596 | 0.1% | – 33.3% | – | – |
UK May 2026 – models:
| Pos | Model | May-26 | % | /25 | Apr | 2026 | % | /25 | Pos | FY25 |
| 1 | Ford Puma | 4,019 | 2.5% | + 8.8% | 1 | 24,358 | 2.6% | + 11.0% | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Kia Sportage | 3,439 | 2.1% | + 5.6% | 2 | 21,274 | 2.3% | + 8.3% | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Vauxhall Corsa | 3,075 | 1.9% | + 14.2% | 7 | 15,863 | 1.7% | – 4.1% | 5 | 4 |
| 4 | Jaecoo 7 | 3,027 | 1.9% | n/a | 10 | 20,695 | 2.2% | n/a | 3 | 13 |
| 5 | Nissan Qashqai | 2,859 | 1.8% | – 7.4% | 3 | 18,558 | 2.0% | + 8.7% | 4 | 3 |
| 6 | VW Golf | 2,637 | 1.6% | + 42.5% | 4 | 14,658 | 1.6% | + 3.2% | 6 | 6 |
| 7 | Mini Cooper | 2,605 | 1.6% | + 25.3% | 5 | 13,291 | 1.4% | n/a | 9 | 12 |
| 8 | VW Tiguan | 2,395 | 1.5% | + 21.6% | 8 | 12,647 | 1.4% | + 0.1% | 10 | 9 |
| 9 | Vauxhall Frontera | 2,372 | 1.5% | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 128 |
| 10 | Hyundai Tucson | 2,194 | 1.4% | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 10 |
| n/a | MG HS | 2,182 | 1.4% | + 42.4% | 9 | 13,475 | 1.5% | + 7.4% | 8 | 8 |
| n/a | Volvo XC40 | 2,118 | 1.3% | + 6.2% | n/a | 13,478 | 1.5% | + 6.9% | 7 | 7 |
Source: SMMT
