UK's 2022 Best Seller British!!!

In a country with a car industry, it has an unusual situation where imports typically account for 90% of registrations. Nissan designs and builds cars in the UK so as British of anything around. This goes over the head of many in the UK but for whatever reason, the local Qashqai is now top of the pops and comfortably so.

This is the first time since 1998 a UK assembled car has held that position. In that case it was the Ford Fiesta model made at the Dagenham facility. Ford later pulled out car production in the UK, although design work and engine building remained. With MG Rover being destroyed by BMW, it seemed there was never going to be a local product that could hold the top spot again.

                                                                            Nissan stepped up to the plate with the ground breaking Qashqai entering the scene in 2007. It has taken a while for it to establish itself as the list to the left reveals. From 35th place in its debut year, it reached the Top 10 in 2010. From there, progress was steady and by 2017 was in 4th spot.

At that point, it stuttered as production seemed to be stifled until early 2022. From then on, it had been a strong rise until its present unassailable top ranking.

To the right is the November 2022 total registrations, colour coded by nation or region. Asian brands have four models on the list. 

Top 5 Other Segments Models UK : 2017/18

Sports: This category dropped from 1.9% to 1.6% of total sales. There was also quite a shuffling of models with only one surviving from 2017 to 2018. That was the Mazda MX-5, which became the best selling model.

SUV: They were up to 21.2%, a segment that has grown every year since 2008. Back then it was a much smaller 6.4%. The Ford Kuga knocked the Kia Sportage of the top spot and the soon to be replaced Evoque missed out for the first time since 2012.

MPV: The MPV grouping experienced a massive slump to 3.1% from 4.4%. No one model got near 10,000 sales, while three did last year.

2017
Sports			SUV			MPV
	1.9%			18.1%			4.4%
Audi	TT	7,762	Kia	Sportag	39,683	Ford	C-Max	12,655
VW	Scirocco	4,935	Ford	Kuga	39,212	Vauxhall	Zafira T	12,219
Mazda	MX-5	4,698	Hyundai	Tucson	29,430	Citroën	C4 Picas	11,017
M-Benz	SLC	3,664	VW	Tiguan	29,121	Ford	S-Max	5,977
Porsche	718	2,556	L Rover	Evoque	24,906	Ford	B-Max	5,930
Other	50.3%	23,937	Other	64.7%	298,060	Other	57.3%	64,241
Total		47,552	Total		460,412	Total		112,039
2018
Sports			SUV			MPV
	1.6%			21.2%			3.1%
Mazda	MX-5	4,373	Ford	Kuga	40,398	Ford	C-Max	7,851
Audi	TT	4,243	Kia	Sportag	35,567	Vauxhall	Zafira T	4,894
BMW	6-Series	2,671	VW	Tiguan	29,538	Ford	Tourneo	4,858
Porsche	718	2,663	Hyundai	Tucson	27,634	Citroën	C4 Picas	4,550
Porsche	911	2,382	M-Benz	GLC	22,273	M-Benz	B-Class	4,076
Other	56.1%	20,841	Other	69.0%	346,714	Other	64.5%	47,677
Total		37,173	Total		502,124	Total		73,906

Data source: SMMT.

Top 5 Larger Car Models UK : 2017/18

Upper: Dropping from 9.6% to 8.1% of the market shows this segment is falling out of favour. It has been consistent for several years but 2018 saw a change in fortune. This was the 7th year the 3-Series was the best selling and the 4-Series made it a 1-2 for the brand.

Executive: This has been a consistent category in the UK regarding its share of sales. 2018 was down slightly to 4.6%. Mercedes has had the top two places for the past nine years.

Luxury: This is another stable area of sales, with fluctuations but over the years little change overall in its share. Understandably, volume is limited.

2017
Upper medium			Executive			Luxury
	9.6%			4.8%			0.36%
BMW	3-Series	35,904	M-Benz	C-Class	45,912	M-Benz	S-Class	2,939
Audi	A4	25,294	M-Benz	E-Class	26,733	BMW	7-Series	2,274
BMW	4-Series	22,050	BMW	5-Series	19,477	Jaguar	XJ	970
Škoda	Octavia	20,493	Audi	A6	12,768	Bentley	Continen	770
Vauxhall	Insignia	16,884	Jaguar	XF	7,710	Audi	A8	749
Other	50.4%	122,335	Other	8.6%	10,568	Other	16.2%	1,489
Total		242,960	Total		123,168	Total		9,191
2018
Upper medium			Executive			Luxury
	8.1%			4.6%			0.35%
BMW	3 Series	28,074	M-Benz	C-Class	32,600	M-Benz	S-Class	2,650
BMW	4-Series	19,422	M-Benz	E-Class	24,627	BMW	7-Series	1,826
Škoda	Octavia	17,927	BMW	5-Series	23,396	Audi	A8	1,118
Audi	A4	15,349	Audi	A6	10,206	Jaguar	XJ	744
Vauxhall	Insignia	13,561	Jaguar	XF	6,140	Bentley	Continen	706
Other	50.6%	96,713	Other	11.2%	12,259	Other	14.4%	1,182
Total		191,046	Total		109,228	Total		8,226

Data source: SMMT.

Top 5 Smaller Car Models UK : 2017/18

Mini: Little change here, in this small segment at the bottom of the pile.

Supermini: This is the largest segment, led by the largest selling model. Again, consistent with last year.

Lower Medium: The VW Golf passed the Ford Focus for the first time, so that's something of note. The Astra dropped off altogether after decades of gracing this segment's top five. It's been replaced by the Mokka stablemate. The Nissan Qashqai coming second would be the highest a Japanese make has achieved in the segment. Some notable changes here.

2017
Mini			Supermini			Lower Medium
	2.7%			29.5%			28.7%
Hyundai	i10	25,224	Ford	Fiesta	94,533	Ford	Focus	69,903
VW	Up!	13,555	Vauxhall	Corsa	52,772	VW	Golf	74,605
Vauxhall	Viva	9,963	VW	Polo	47,855	Nissan	Qashqai	64,216
Suzuki	Celerio	6,755	MINI	MINI	47,669	Vauxhall	Astra	49,370
Škoda	Citigo	6,527	Nissan	Juke	38,912	M-Benz	A-Class	43,717
Other	9.9%	6,822	Other	62.4%	466,592	Other	58.5%	426,305
Total		68,846	Total		748,333	Total		728,116
2018
Mini			Supermini			Lower Medium
	2.4%			30.8%			27.9%
Hyundai	i10	22,330	Ford	Fiesta	95,892	VW	Golf	64,829
VW	Up!	13,224	Vauxhall	Corsa	52,915	Nissan	Qashqai	50,546
Vauxhall	Viva	5,570	VW	Polo	45,149	Ford	Focus	50,492
Škoda	Citigo	5,549	MINI	MINI	44,904	M-Benz	A-Class	43,527
Suzuki	Celerio	4,316	Toyota	Yaris	29,191	Vauxhall	Mokka	32,266
Other	9.0%	5,034	Other	63.3%	461,620	Other	63.4%	418,090
Total		56,023	Total		729,671	Total		659,750

Data source: SMMT.