UK Top 20 Models : 1995-99

The Ford Fiesta was selling well

A unique time in the UK was not having any British car in the Top 10, which ended in 1998. The 200 and 400 models had both been reasonably successful but the range overall just wasn't good enough. A collaboration would have been essential to freshen the line up but owner BMW didn't go that way.

As a consequence, Rover concluded 1999 on a historically low 6th place in total sales. Peugeot, Renault and VW were now all ahead, in that order. A record four European models made the Top 10 in 1995. The Mégane included the Scénic MPV derivative which was counted as one back then. In 1998, UK production of the 306 switched to the 206, which would prove to be the last model made locally.

Below, blank spaces indicate when a model is not in the Top 20. The darker shading is a Top 10 finish.

	Model	1999	1998	1997	1996	1995
1	Ford Escort	103,228	113,560	113,522	128,760	137,760
2	Ford Fiesta	99,830	116,110	119,471	139,552	129,574
3	Vauxhall Astra	92,050	81,494	89,537	86,068	100,709
4	Vauxhall Corsa	86,779	75,673	79,898	75,777	72,508
5	Vauxhall Vectra	77,479	92,719	93,778	88,224	73,978
6	Ford Mondeo	77,183	99,729	107,239	100,725	118,040
7	Renault Mégane	65,127	82,998	57,654
8	Renault Clio	63,991	57,231	58,033	53,826	52,576
9	VW Golf	63,715	42,354	39,986	52,436	44,111
10	Peugeot 206	58,788
11	Peugeot 306	53,447	70,169	66,888	58,916	56,112
12	Nissan Micra	47,775	48,757	42,856	44,141	44,786
13	BMW 3 Series	47,265	37,219	40,312	41,958	41,032
14	Rover 200	45,728	64,928	62,365	53,562	68,114
15	Citroën Saxo/AX	43,557	38,916	36,855		27,756
16	VW Polo	43,422	48,402	56,235	47,000
17	Ford Ka	42,607
18	Peugeot 405	42,242	48,242	47,395	35,549	30,974
19	Fiat Punto	40,439	52,159	45,551	47,986	44,335
20	Rover 400	33,343	57,318	61,913	63,847	47,348
	Peugeot 106		51,458	50,069	43,821	45,596
	Honda Civic		36,791		33,523	30,818
	Renault Laguna			40,324	40,807	40,980
	Rover 100				42,009	52,392
	Top 10	788,170	854,698	852,644	849,257	861,763
	% of Total	35.9	38.0	39.3	41.9	44.3
	Total	2,197,615	2,247,403	2,170,725	2,025,450	1,945,366

Data source: SMMT.

Other years in the series:
65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80-84, 85-89, 90-94, 00-04, 05-09, 10-14.