The Peugeot 3008 breaks into the UK Top 5 for the first time in January.

New car sales in the UK recede -2.5% year-on-year in January to 139,345 units. Private sales are stable at -0.5% to 49,976 and a slightly improved market share at 35.9% vs. 35.2% a year ago. Fleets drop -3.7% to 86,998 and 62.4% share vs. 63.2% while business sales are up 2.4% to a modest 2,371 and 1.7% share. Petrol sales sink -15.3% to 70.075 and 50.3% share vs. 57.9% in January 2024, diesel is off -7.7% to 8,625 and 6.2% share vs. 6.5%, HEVs are up 2.9% to 18,413 and 13.2% share vs. 12.5% and PHEVs gain 5.5% to 12,598 and 9% share vs. 8.4%. Finally BEVs surge 41.6% to 29,634 and an excellent 21.3% share vs. 14.7% a year ago. As SMMT comments, this is still just below the 22% target set by the government for 2024 and well off the 28% requirement for 2025.

In the brands aisle, below perennial leader Volkswagen (+18.4%), in excellent shape at 9.7% share, the rest of the ranking is completely reshuffled. Kia (+5.9%) is back up 14 spots on December to #2 with 7.8% share, well above the 5.7% it commanded over the Full Year 2024. This is Kia’s highest market share since it hit a record 9.1% back in January 2022. BMW (-14.2%) takes the third place like in December but is weak year-on-year. There’s a mini French revolution this month with Peugeot (+34.2%) soaring 13 ranks on last month to land in 4th place with 5.8% share. This is the carmaker’s best performance in at least 12 years, as it reached #5 in February 2013. Peugeot may have reached higher ground when it was a local manufacturer, notably in the nineties. Nissan (-17.5%) and Vauxhall (-14.9%) underperform but the hardest hit is Ford (-31.6%) down to #7 and 4.8% share, its lowest result since June 2024 when it ranked #9 with 4.7% share. Audi (-27.2%) is also in trouble at #8 vs. #3 over the Full Year 2024. Below, Mazda (+40.9%), Cupra (+23.4%) and Mercedes (+15.8%) stand out just as BYD (+550.8%) continues to gear up at a record 1.2% share.

Source: SMMT

The Kia Sportage (-18%) and Nissan Qashqai (-14.6%) both tumble down year-on-year but still hold onto the Top 2 spots. This is the 6th time in the past 9 months that the Sportage is #1 and it could be headed towards its first ever annual pole position in 2025 after missing out last year when it ranked #2 below the Ford Puma, down -44.5% to #7 this month. The Vauxhall Corsa reappears inside the podium at #3, its best ranking since hitting #2 in November 2023. The VW Golf (+6.4%) defies the negative environment and ranks #4 but the event of the month is below: the Peugeot 3008 is at #5 and the 2008 at #6. This is the 3008’s second ever UK Top 10 finish after hitting #9 last November and a new ranking record for the 2008, eclipsing the #7 it reached in October 2023. MG places the HS at #9 and the ZS at #10.

Previous post (1): UK Full Year 2024: Now with exclusive Top 200 models ranking

Previous post (2): UK Full Year 2024: Ford Puma repeats at #1 despite Kia Sportage push

One year ago: UK January 2024: Kia Sportage #1, BMW 1 Series up to record #5

Full January Top 50 All brands and Top 10 models below.

UK January 2024 – brands:

PosBrandJan-25%/24Dec2024%FY241Volkswagen13,5659.7%+ 18.4%1166,3048.5%12Kia10,8137.8%+ 5.9%16112,2525.7%43BMW  9,2656.6%– 14.2%3125,2656.4%24Peugeot  8,0965.8%+ 34.2%1768,9053.5%135Nissan  7,1295.1%– 17.5%9100,4465.1%86Vauxhall  7,0845.1%– 14.9%1278,8954.0%117Ford  6,6364.8%– 31.6%4109,9555.6%58Audi  6,4334.6%– 27.2%6122,4316.3%39Mercedes  6,3614.6%+ 15.8%10102,7575.3%610Hyundai6,3324.5%+ 2.3%1591,8084.7%911MG5,4403.9%– 18.9%881,5364.2%1012Skoda5,2613.8%+ 6.7%778,6014.0%1213Land Rover5,0893.7%+ 8.8%1861,2903.1%1514Toyota4,6603.3%– 23.7%5101,4445.2%715Volvo4,2663.1%+ 9.9%1366,4083.4%1416Renault4,0822.9%+ 6.9%1457,9673.0%1617Mini2,9852.1%– 20.3%1146,9752.4%1818Mazda2,7682.0%+ 40.9%2228,4291.5%2419Dacia2,3091.7%+ 10.6%2131,4571.6%2020Cupra2,2431.6%+ 23.4%1930,3981.6%2221Seat1,9291.4%– 29.4%2336,7821.9%1922Suzuki1,8371.3%+ 18.8%3223,0591.2%2523Honda1,6241.2%– 32.6%2730,6361.6%2124BYD1,6141.2%+ 550.8%258,7880.5%3125Tesla1,4581.0%– 7.8%250,3342.6%1726Fiat1,4281.0%+ 30.2%2914,2530.7%2927Citroen1,2560.9%– 46.3%2430,3711.6%2328Porsche1,1910.9%– 0.1%2020,0001.0%2629Lexus1,0620.8%+ 54.1%2616,6510.9%2730Jeep9600.7%+ 87.5%319,0410.5%3031Jaguar7830.6%– 41.2%3316,6170.9%2832Polestar7460.5%+ 216.1%288,6930.4%3233Jaecoo7240.5%new342090.0%4734Omoda5930.4%new303,6290.2%3335KGM1150.1%+ 36.9%391,6170.1%3736Subaru1130.1%– 41.5%352,4190.1%3437DS1010.1%– 6.5%431,1520.1%4038Genesis910.1%+ 46.8%371,2100.1%3839Bentley890.1%+ 8.5%389190.0%4240Alfa Romeo690.0%– 5.5%361,6660.1%3641Smart590.0%– 59.9%401,9810.1%3542Ora520.0%– 7.1%451,1620.1%3943Maserati260.0%– 50.0%414690.0%4344Abarth190.0%– 72.9%461,0270.1%4145Ineos110.0%– 54.2%473500.0%4546Alpine100.0%– 75.6%443710.0%4447Maxus100.0%n/a42310.0%4848Chevrolet10.0%n/a  –10.0%5049Skywell10.0%new4860.0%4950Fisker00.0%– 100.0%  –2590.0%46 –Other British4290.3%+ 78.8% –3,4520.2% – –Other Imports1270.1%– 24.0% –2,1000.1% –

UK January 2025 – models:

PosModelJan-25%/23DecFY241Kia Sportage3,4762.5%– 18.0%n/a22Nissan Qashqai3,4212.5%– 14.6%333Vauxhall Corsa3,3792.4%n/a7124VW Golf2,6141.9%+ 6.4%n/a65Peugeot 30082,5671.8%n/an/a316Peugeot 20082,4781.8%n/an/a207Ford Puma2,3321.7%– 44.5%518Nissan Juke2,3201.7%– 4.2%1049MG HS2,1481.5%– 37.1%n/a810MG ZS2,1071.5%n/a617

Source: SMMT