UK September 2026: Market at highest in 9 years, Chinese at 23.3% share, BYD #2 brand, Jaecoo 7 best-seller

The Jaecoo 7 is the best-selling vehicle in the UK in September.

Outstanding result for the UK new car market in the all-important plate-change month of September with sales up 12% year-on-year to 350,536. This is the highest September volume in 9 years: since 2017. The year-to-date tally is now up 10.2% or over 160,000 units to 1,739,271. Encouragingly, private sales beat the market and are up 13.9% to 131,003 and 42.6% share vs. 41.9% last year while fleets are up 9.6% to 190,998 and 54.5% share vs. 55.7% in September 2025. Business sales shoot up 37.3% to 10,372 and 3% share vs. 2.4%. Year-to-date, private sales grow 12.8% to 695,965 and 40% share vs. 39.1% over the same period last year, fleets are up 8% to 1,000,509 and 57.5% share vs. 58.7% a year ago and business sales are up 22.8% to 42,797 and 2.5% share vs. 2.2%

Looking at propulsion type, BEVs soar 36.3% to a record 99,201 sales and 28.3% share vs. 23.3% a year ago, helped by vast model choice, discounts and the government’s Electric Car Grant. HEVs drop -4.3% to 45,839 and 13.1% share vs. 15.3% in September 2025, PHEVs surge 55.5% to 38,308 and 17% share vs. 12.2%, petrol is down -6.7% to 131,864 and 37.6% share vs. 45.2% and diesel grows 11.5% to 12,609 and an unchanged 4% share. Through September, BEVs are up 30.2% to 454,947 and 26.2% share vs. 22.1% over the first 9 months of 2025, HEVs grow 7.9% to 240,255 and 13.8% share vs. 14.1%, PHEVs improve 41.8% to 244,769 and 14.1% share vs. 10.9%, petrol is down -3.8% to 721,617 and 41.5% share vs. 47.5% and diesel skids -7.1% to 77,683 and 4.5% share vs. 5.3%.

In the brands ranking, Volkswagen (+2.6%) sees its share drop to 7.4% vs. 7.9% so far this year but remains in the lead. Massive event in 2nd place: BYD (+78.7%) surges to over 20,000 sales and 5.7% share, smashing its previous records of #6 (December 2025), 15,162 sales (March 2026) and 5.3% share (December 2025). Kia (+1.3%) advances two spots on August to #3 with MG (+23.7%) and Audi (-4.4%) rounding out the Top 5. Tesla (+98.6%) doubles its sales year-on-year to land at #6 with Jaecoo (+132%) breaking its ranking record at #9 for its second ever UK Top 10 finish, also reaching a volume best at over 15,000. Notice also Chery up 660.9% to #18, Omoda up 67.5% to #20, newcomer Geely at #25, Leapmotor up 709.7% to #28, Lepas landing at #37 for its first appearance in the UK charts and Aion up to #38. All in all, Chinese carmakers see their UK sales surge 110% year-on-year to 81,775 and 23.3% share vs. 12.4% in September 2025. Finally, Ford (-27.3%) tumbles down to a worst-ever #14, outsold by Vauxhall (-1.1%).

Over in the models charts, the Jaecoo 7 (+66.7%) sports a second ever monthly win after last March (both in plate change months) and advances to #2 year-to-date as a result. The Tesla Model 3 surges to #2 and breaks into the YTD Top 10 at #9. The Ford Puma (-16.3%) can’t benefit from the solid market and falls to #3 for the month, albeit retaining its YTD pole position. The Kia Sportage (-31%) also struggles at #4 while the Tesla Model Y climbs to #5. The Nissan Qashqai (-23.1%) and Vauxhall Corsa (-5.9%) also disappoint just as the VW Golf (+6.8%) and MG HS (+5.2%) both post shy upticks. First Top 10 finish since October 2025 for the Audi A3 (#10). Strikingly, BYD has no models in the Top 10.

Previous month: UK August 2026: Jaecoo now Top 10 brand, places 7 at #2 and 5 at #4

One year ago: UK September 2025: Jaecoo 7 up to #4, BYD Seal U #6, BEVs reach record volume

Full September 2026 Top 55 All brands, Top 10 models and Top 10 EV models below.