UK Top Four Brands : 1985-2000

The British loved the Escort.

Having considered the top four makes from 1965-84, we move on to the mid eighties. Ford took over from BL in 1977 and has stayed there since. BL became the Rover Group in 1986 as it tried to regroup. GM's Vauxhall had mixed results but settled down in the late eighties. Nissan enjoyed nine years at fourth until Peugeot - using the Rootes (Hillman) factory to make cars in the UK - took over in 1989.

Ford's reign at the top was only sullied by reducing market share but there is a reason for that. As you can see in the extreme right column, the top four car brand's market share has been shrinking. Vauxhall too has lost share, but not as much. Even the third brand in the UK no longer commands double digit share.

The Rover 200 was a good looking car.

By the end of this period here, Rover Group (not including Land Rover) had fallen out of the top four altogether, and was sixth by the year 2000. BAe had owned Rover from 1998 to 2004, when BMW became owner. Peugeot was up to third and Renault was now in the mix.

The chart below shows sales in thousands, and market share.

Yr	1st	Sales	%	2nd	Sales	%	3rd	Sales	%	4th	Sales	%	%
1985	Ford	486	27	Rov	325	18	GMV	303	17	Niss	106	6	67
1986	Ford	515	27	Rov	293	16	GMV	280	15	Niss	110	6	64
1987	Ford	580	29	Rov	297	15	GMV	271	13	Niss	114	6	63
1988	Ford	584	26	Rov	325	15	GMV	304	14	Niss	135	6	61
1989	Ford	609	26	GMV	350	15	Rov	305	13	Peu	139	6	61
1990	Ford	507	25	GMV	323	16	Rov	201	13	Peu	124	6	61
1991	Ford	386	24	GMV	249	16	Rov	218	14	Peu	116	7	61
1992	Ford	353	22	GMV	266	17	Rov	201	13	Peu	124	8	59
1993	Ford	382	21	GMV	304	17	Rov	218	12	Peu	143	8	59
1994	Ford	419	22	GMV	311	16	Rov	221	12	Peu	147	8	57
1995	Ford	411	21	GMV	294	15	Rov	212	11	Peu	143	7	54
1996	Ford	397	20	GMV	284	14	Rov	199	10	Peu	153	8	51
1997	Ford	396	18	GMV	295	14	Rov	195	9	Peu	167	8	49
1998	Ford	404	18	GMV	283	13	Peu	182	8	Rov	160	7	46
1999	Ford	388	18	GMV	292	13	Peu	181	8	Ren	165	8	47
2000	Ford	374	17	GMV	297	13	Peu	189	9	Ren	161	7	46

To see the other two blogs in the series: 1965-1984, and 2001-2013.