The Jaecoo 5 is up to 7th place in the UK in July.

Another excellent month for new car sales in the UK with July volumes up 11.7% year-on-year to 156,571 units, the best performance for the month since 2020 and marking an 8th consecutive month of year-on-year growth. The year-to-date tally is up 9.5% to 1,294,499, the highest result at this stage of the year since 2019 (1,426,443). This increase is driven by the growth of electrified vehicles. HEV sales are up 11.6% to 20,711 and 13.2% share, unchanged on a year ago, PHEVs are up 33.6% to 23,359 and 14.9% share vs. 12.5% in July 2025 and, the most impressive of all, BEVs surge 44.5% to 43,106 and 27.5% share vs. 21.3% last year. Year-to-date, HEVs are up 10.3% to 182,387 and 14.1% share vs. 14% over the same period in 2025, PHEVs soar 37.7% to 171,491 and 13.2% share vs. 10.5% and BEVs gain 28.7% to 327,683 and 25.3% share vs. 21.5% in 2025. 

The Renault 5 is the best-selling BEV in the UK in July.

Local association of manufacturers SMMT expects BEVs to hold 27.4% of the market over the Full Year 2026 vs. a government mandate of 33%, and 32.1% in 2027 vs. a 38% mandate. This despite manufacturer discounts, government incentives and high fuel prices. SMMT points out that the financial effort required by manufacturers to hit targets will link them to pause or divert investment, which hurts the job market. Encouragingly, private sales outpace the market +12.6% to 58,137 units and 37.1% share vs. 36.8% a year ago, while fleets are up 9.5% to 93,734 and 59.9% share vs. 61.1% and minor business sales soar 61.3% to 4,700 and 3% share vs,. 2.1%. Year-to-date, private sales are up 12.1% to 508,337 and 39.3% share vs. 38.4% in 2025, fleets are up 7.5% to 755,576 and 58.4% vs. 59.5% and business sales up 19.1% to 30,586 and 2.4% share vs. 2.2%.

The Ford Puma remains the favourite car of UK buyers.

The Top 5 brands all trail the market. Volkswagen (+4.5%) remains ultra dominant at 9% share vs. 8% so far, Kia (+0.6%) is up four spots on last month to #2, a ranking it now also holds year-to-date, Audi drops -1% at #3, BMW is up 2.1% at #4 and Ford (-15.5%) falls apart at #5. MG (+27.8%) is in great shape and ranks #6 above Skoda (+1.9%) hitting #7 which is its highest ranking in a year. Toyota (+16.5%) is solid at #8 but the best performer in the Top 10 is clearly BYD (+107.4%) more than doubling its sales year-on-year to #9 and 4.2% share, its best performance so far this year. Below, notice Jaecoo (+187.3%) at a record 3.5% share, Renault up 51.3% to #15, Omoda up 81.6% to #20, Citroen up 57% to #23 and Leapmotor up 547.2% to #26. Tesla is down -48.1% to #35 with just 512 sales.

Over in the models charts, the Ford Puma (-19.9%) reclaims the top spot despite a ghastly YoY fall. The Nissan Qashqai (+31.9%) excels and climbs three ranks on June to #2, distancing the Kia Sportage (-28.5%) in great difficulty and the Jaecoo 7 also up three spots to #4 and still #3 year-to-date. The MG HS (+61.1%) is also very solid and rounds out the Top 5 above the Ford Kuga up four ranks to #6. The Jaecoo 5 breaks into the UK Top 10 for the first time at #7 (meaning the Top 7 is entirely composed of SUVs), finishing ahead of the VW Golf (+15.5%), Mini Cooper (-10.6%) and Vauxhall Corsa (+12.5%). We now also have access to the 10 best-selling BEVs in the UK and with the weakness of Tesla the honour goes to the Renault 5 at over 1,800 sales above the Kia EV3, Jaecoo E5, Skoda Enyaq and Vauxhall Frontera.

Previous month: UK June 2026: Tesla Model Y and Model 3 on top

One year ago: UK July 2025: Mini (+46.6%), Peugeot (+33.4%), Skoda (+30.2%) highlight negative market

Full July 2026 Top 55 All brands, Top 10 models and Top 10 BEV models below.

UK July 2026 – brands:

PosBrandJul-26%/25Jun2026%/25PosFY251Volkswagen14,0549.0%+ 4.5%1104,2048.0%– 3.2%112Kia9,0865.8%+ 0.6%671,9315.6%+ 1.3%243Audi  8,6525.5%– 1.0%467,3145.2%+ 8.1%454BMW  8,2585.3%+ 2.1%371,1355.5%– 3.6%325Ford  7,6994.9%– 15.5%765,8985.1%– 5.2%536MG7,2034.6%+ 27.8%555,9444.3%+ 15.9%7107Skoda6,9024.4%+ 1.9%853,4104.1%+ 5.5%9118Toyota6,6534.2%+ 16.5%1052,2374.0%+ 0.3%1079BYD6,6034.2%+ 107.4%1644,3983.4%+ 96.7%141710Mercedes  6,5524.2%+ 1.6%1156,5344.4%+ 3.9%6911Vauxhall  5,8403.7%+ 19.4%1354,8414.2%+ 6.3%81312Hyundai5,7913.7%– 19.7%951,1794.0%– 8.6%11613Nissan  5,6303.6%– 8.0%1246,5833.6%– 15.7%12814Jaecoo5,5023.5%+ 187.3%1839,5693.1%+ 283.6%172315Renault5,0523.2%+ 51.3%1441,3003.2%+ 12.9%151516Peugeot  4,9933.2%– 19.2%1746,4203.6%– 15.4%131217Volvo4,7073.0%+ 8.1%1540,0593.1%+ 4.8%161418Mini4,6413.0%+ 5.3%1934,1122.6%+ 29.4%191819Land Rover3,9992.6%– 7.2%2038,7713.0%– 2.0%181620Omoda3,4032.2%+ 81.6%2222,1641.7%+ 151.4%222721Cupra3,3972.2%– 6.7%2325,3062.0%+ 11.2%212022Chery3,2122.1%new2121,1911.6%new233423Citroen1,7941.1%+ 57.0%2618,3241.4%+ 74.1%242624Dacia1,6871.1%– 9.6%2416,9091.3%– 6.0%252225Geely1,6631.1%new298,1600.6%new344726Leapmotor1,6051.0%+ 547.2%288,3750.6%+ 960.1%333527Porsche1,5671.0%+ 18.8%3011,0930.9%+ 2.2%292828Mazda1,5501.0%– 19.1%3116,4201.3%– 20.8%262129Honda1,3620.9%+ 3.7%3412,1450.9%– 16.4%282430Suzuki1,1290.7%+ 6.2%2714,8701.1%+ 40.8%272931Seat1,0540.7%– 28.3%329,8260.8%– 28.8%302532Lexus9940.6%– 15.5%339,0270.7%– 9.4%323133Fiat6480.4%+ 50.3%364,3960.3%– 33.1%363334Polestar5680.4%– 30.7%259,6540.7%+ 5.6%313035Tesla5120.3%– 48.1%228,1892.2%+ 18.9%201936Jeep4650.3%– 43.7%356,7790.5%– 9.0%353237Alpine3730.2%+ 242.2%372,2750.2%+ 421.8%373938Changan3690.2%new391,9480.2%new384939Smart2090.1%+ 99.0%401,3680.1%+ 55.5%403840Alfa Romeo1730.1%+ 6.1%381,7970.1%+ 22.2%393641Xpeng1630.1%+ 1937.5%419300.1%+ 437.6%434542Aion1390.1%new472400.0%new48 –43Lotus1010.1%+ 71.2%426790.1%– 22.2%45n/a44KGM890.1%– 21.9%469320.1%– 1.8%424145Genesis640.0%– 41.3%446900.1%– 23.2%444246DS550.0%+ 323.1%511670.0%– 82.6%494347Subaru530.0%– 36.9%439920.1%– 26.2%413748Maserati410.0%+ 28.1%482960.0%+ 45.8%474849Mitsubishi410.0%n/a501110.0%n/a52 –50Abarth220.0%+ 100.0%453350.0%+ 58.0%465051Ineos200.0%– 44.4%521560.0%– 6.6%505152Chevrolet80.0%– 27.3%53480.0%+ 6.7%545253GWM Ora70.0%– 50.0%541510.0%– 27.1%514654Jaguar00.0%n/a5580.0%– 99.5%544054Maxus00.0%n/a5440.0%– 90.7%555355Skywell00.0%– 100.0%49900.0%+ 462.5%5354 –Other British1550.1%– 5.5% –1,6890.1%– 10.4% – – –Other Imports620.0%– 44.6% –7370.1%– 35.5% – –

UK July 2026 – models:

PosModelJul-26%/25Jun2026%/25PosFY251Ford Puma3,5312.3%– 19.9%333,1732.6%+ 7.8%112Nissan Qashqai3,2242.1%+ 31.9%526,3262.0%+ 7.3%433Kia Sportage3,2052.0%– 28.5%429,0332.2%+ 5.6%224Jaecoo 72,7091.7%n/a726,5492.1%n/a3135MG HS2,7031.7%+ 61.1%619,4241.5%+ 9.2%786Ford Kuga2,5331.6%n/a10n/an/an/an/a197Jaecoo 52,4811.6%n/an/an/an/an/an/a1888VW Golf2,4131.5%+ 15.5%n/a19,9651.5%+ 5.2%669Mini Cooper2,3501.5%– 10.6%918,6451.4%n/a81210Vauxhall Corsa2,3261.5%+ 12.5%n/a20,7961.6%– 6.3%54n/aVolvo XC402,0871.3%n/an/a18,1181.4%+ 18.7%97n/aVW Tiguann/an/an/an/a16,8981.3%– 4.8%109

UK July 2026 – BEV models:

PosEV ModelJul-26%1Renault 51,8051.2%2Kia EV31,6911.1%3Jaecoo E51,2910.8%4Skoda Enyaq1,2550.8%5Vauxhall Frontera1,2480.8%6Mini Countryman1,2310.8%7Skoda Elroq1,1650.7%8VW ID.31,1470.7%9Audi Q6 e-Tron1,0620.7%10Mercedes CLA1,0060.6%

Source: SMMT