The Ford Puma is back to #1 in the UK.

In the most important month of the year (new ’25 license plate released), UK sales grow by a splendid 12.4% year-on-year to 357,103 units, single handedly tiling the Q1 2025 tally into positive at +6.4% to 580,502. This is the largest March volume since pre-pandemic 2019 (458,054), according to SMMT. Private sales advance faster than the market at +14.5% to 147,041 and 41.2% share vs. 40.4% a year ago while fleet sales are up 11.5% to 202,171 and 56.6% share vs. 57.1%. Business sales are stable at -0.3% to 7,891 and 2.2% share vs. 2.5%. Year-to-date, private sales are up 9.5% to 227,122 and 39.1% share vs. 38% over Q1 2024 just as fleet sales edge up 4.6% to 341,561 and 58.8% share vs. 59.8% last year and business sales are up 0.6% to 11,819 and 2% vs. 2.2%.

BEV sales spectacularly surge 43.2% year-on-year this month to 69,313 units, the largest ever EV monthly volume in UK history. EV share is 19.4% for the month vs. 15.2% in March 2024. Meanwhile PHEV is up 37.9% to 33,815 and 9.5% share vs. 7.7% a year ago and HEVs are up 27.7% to 56,161 and 15.7% share vs. 13.8%. This means all electrified fuels advance faster than an already galloping market. In contrast petrol edges down -0.4% to 176,847 and 49.5% share vs. 55.9% and diesel drops -10.1% to 20,967 and 5.9% vs. 7.3% last year. Year-to-date, BEVs are up 42.6% to 120,191 and 20.7% share vs. 15.5% over Q1 2024, PHEVs soar 26.1% to 53,686 and 9.2% share vs. 7.8% and HEVs are up 18.7% to 86,005 and 14.8% share vs. 13.3%. Petrol is down -7.1% to 286,787 and 49.4% share vs. 56.6% and diesel is down -10.2% to 33,833 and 5.8% share vs. 6.9%.

Source: SMMT

In the brands ranking, Volkswagen surges 42.5% year-on-year to 8.8% share and Ford soars a rare 38.8% to 6.6% of the market. These two brands are responsible for most of the market gains this month, as the next seven carmakers in the charts all trail the overall growth rate. Toyota (+9.7%), Kia (+8.2%), BMW (+7.5%) and Vauxhall (+5.4%) keep their lift rate to the single digits while Nissan (-18.4%), Mercedes (-10.8%) and Audi (-5.1%) vastly underperform. Below, notice Volvo (+58.1%), Skoda (+36.3%), Peugeot (+35.4%) and Renault (+26.1%) all impressive. Tesla (+2.4%) is in positive but drops to 2% share vs. 4.6% last month. Further down the charts, BYD (+753.8%) breaks into the Top 20 for the first time at #19.

Model-wise, the Ford Puma (+33.8%) sports its first monthly win since last August. Given the weight of March in the YTD figures, this is enough to propel the nameplate to the #1 Q1 spot. It ranked #9 after two months this year. The Kia Sportage (+5.8%) takes the 2nd spot both for the month and year-to-date. The Vauxhall Corsa (+15.1%) has a rare standout month at #3 and now ranks #4 so far this year vs. #12 over the Full Year 2024. The Nissan Qashqai (-23.4%) is in freefall over a particularly good year-ago performance when it was #1 overall. The Nissan Juke (-11.9%) is also in a bad way. Below the VW Golf (+14.5%), MG places the HS (+16.1%) at #7 and the ZS at #9. The Ford Kuga leaps to #8, its first Top 10 incursion since last October.

Previous month: UK February 2025: Mini Cooper best-seller

One year ago: UK March 2024: Nissan Qashqai #1, Audi A3 and Mercedes A-Class impress

Full March 2025 Top 50 All brands and Top 10 models below.

UK March 2025 – brands:

PosBrandMar-25%/24Feb2025%/24PosFY241Volkswagen31,5628.8%+ 42.5%153,1569.2%+ 28.6%112Ford  23,6346.6%+ 38.8%334,7036.0%+ 6.6%453BMW  21,5706.0%+ 7.5%235,5596.1%– 3.3%224Kia19,9935.6%+ 8.2%535,0636.0%+ 6.0%345Toyota18,5165.2%+ 9.7%1526,1444.5%– 0.2%1076Mercedes  17,6644.9%– 10.8%1327,4154.7%– 4.0%867Audi  17,5134.9%– 5.1%1027,8064.8%– 14.3%738Nissan  16,7784.7%– 18.4%827,8554.8%– 16.6%689Vauxhall  16,3984.6%+ 5.4%927,3714.7%– 4.5%91110Peugeot  16,1764.5%+ 35.4%428,5364.9%+ 33.9%51311MG15,8764.4%+ 22.7%1424,6414.2%+ 6.5%121012Hyundai14,4434.0%+ 6.4%624,8864.3%+ 6.0%11913Land Rover14,1784.0%+ 14.6%1821,1453.6%+ 13.9%141514Skoda13,6093.8%+ 36.3%1222,5723.9%+ 22.3%131215Volvo11,8983.3%+ 58.1%1618,9673.3%+ 39.2%151416Renault11,0723.1%+ 26.1%1717,6933.0%+ 20.7%161617Tesla7,1642.0%+ 2.4%1112,4742.1%+ 6.0%181718Mazda6,8891.9%+ 48.9%2110,9961.9%+ 47.3%192419BYD6,4801.8%+ 753.8%229,2711.6%+ 625.4%213120Cupra6,1821.7%+ 55.2%1910,0321.7%+ 43.7%202221Mini6,0861.7%– 6.1%713,0492.2%+ 3.6%171822Dacia5,9711.7%+ 19.6%249,2611.6%+ 11.2%222023Honda5,8511.6%– 26.1%208,9021.5%– 26.9%232124Seat4,0381.1%– 33.2%236,9531.2%– 37.6%241925Porsche3,5371.0%+ 13.1%295,3310.9%+ 10.0%262626Suzuki3,3870.9%– 32.9%275,9251.0%– 22.8%252527Lexus2,7440.8%– 0.5%304,4040.8%+ 14.0%272728Jeep2,5680.7%+ 59.6%314,0850.7%+ 64.1%293029Polestar2,4340.7%+ 203.1%333,6950.6%+ 184.7%313230Citroen2,2500.6%– 53.8%254,3890.8%– 53.2%282331Omoda2,0820.6%new323,1940.6%new333332Fiat2,0500.6%– 39.5%284,0840.7%– 22.3%302933Jaecoo1,7860.5%new263,2350.6%new324734Jaguar7360.2%– 84.3%341,7250.3%– 74.5%342835Subaru6270.2%– 2.2%368250.1%– 8.2%353436Alfa Romeo6160.2%+ 214.3%377410.1%+ 125.2%363637Smart3850.1%+ 25.8%384870.1%– 8.3%383538KGM3670.1%– 4.7%395130.1%– 14.9%373739Genesis2140.1%+ 51.8%354190.1%+ 92.2%393840Leapmotor1930.1%new –1930.0%new42 –41Bentley1720.0%+ 17.0%402910.1%+ 18.8%404242Abarth890.0%– 41.8%411340.0%– 52.5%434143DS750.0%– 59.2%421980.0%– 46.5%414044Maserati650.0%– 28.6%441020.0%– 34.6%444345Ineos400.0%+ 5.3%48550.0%– 21.4%464546GWM Ora290.0%– 90.6%47860.0%– 79.6%453947Alpine260.0%– 71.1%46420.0%– 72.0%474448Maxus100.0%+ 900.0%45310.0%+ 3000.0%484849Chevrolet100.0%+ 900.0%43270.0%+ 2600.0%495050Skywell60.0%new –70.0%new5049 –Other British5900.2%+ 10.7% –1,1920.2%+ 38.3% – – –Other Imports4380.1%+ 13.2% –6060.1%– 4.9% – –

UK March 2025 – models:

PosModelMar-25%/24Feb2025%/24PosFY241Ford Puma11,1323.1%+ 33.8%1014,9302.6%– 0.8%112Kia Sportage7,8742.2%+ 5.8%812,8662.2%– 5.6%223Vauxhall Corsa6,8511.9%+ 15.1%n/a11,4762.0%n/a4124Nissan Qashqai6,8441.9%– 23.4%711,7922.0%– 19.0%335Nissan Juke6,4711.8%– 11.9%610,4141.8%– 7.1%646VW Golf6,4471.8%+ 14.5%410,7491.9%+ 4.5%567MG HS6,3371.8%+ 16.1%n/a9,7381.7%– 2.9%788Ford Kuga5,9491.7%n/an/an/an/an/an/a149MG ZS5,9071.7%n/an/a9,0411.6%n/a91710VW Tiguan5,4641.5%n/a59,1401.6%n/a813n/aHyundai Tucsonn/an/an/an/a8,7151.5%n/a107

Source: SMMT