Honest John Guides

Best-selling cars in the UK 2025

British car buyers' appetite for SUVs continues in 2025 with eight of them making the top 10 best-sellers list for the first six months of the year, headed overall by the Ford Puma.

Last year's best-selling car, the Ford Puma, has retained its position at the top of the sales charts so far in 2025 according to the latest official registration figures supplied by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Although the Kia Sportage ran the Puma very close during 2024, the Puma remains the year-to-date best-seller overall, racking up a further 4419 registrations in June 2025 to claim second place for the month behind the Nissan Qashqai with 5008 sales.

That eight of 2025's 10 best-sellers so far are SUVs should surprise nobody given how in-demand these high-rise models have been for years. Car buyers appreciate their elevated seating positions and additional practicality — whether there's an additional belief that they're more adept at dealing with the nation's pot-holed roads is surely worthy of an academic study.

For the first six months of 2025 1,042,219 cars have been registered representing a positive 3.5% increase over 2024's tally of 1,006,763 over the corresponding period — that's the highest they've been since before the Covid-19 epidemic.

Petrol-engined cars continue to dominate with 48.4% of 2025's sales although the 504,840 total represents a significant 9.4% decline over 2024's equivalent figures.

Electric cars now have a 21.6% market share so far in 2025 with 224,841 sales representing an enormous 34.6% increase compared with the same period in 2024. The chances of the UK maintaining its status as Europe's largest market for pure EVs looks increasingly likely but at a significant cost with the SMMT's figures indicating that car manufacturers have spent over £6.5billion incentivising electric models in order to meet the government mandates they're still falling short of.

Self-charging hybrids have captured a 14.1% slice of the market with 146,77 registrations — a 9.0% rise over the same months in 2024.

After pure EVs, the largest growth has been with plug-in hybrids — these have enjoyed a 31.3% increase over 2024 so far, totting-up 107,039 registrations for a 10.3% stake of the market.

Diesel's decline continues in the UK with an 11.3% fall in sales compared with 2024, taking just 5.6% of 2025's registrations so far. That still represents 58,722 cars making it worthwhile for those manufacturers which continue to offer diesel-powered models.

Read on to find out more about 2025's best-selling UK cars — and how we rate them.

1. Ford Puma

26,355 registered

After a disappointing start to 2025's sales campaign, the Ford Puma seized the top spot in March with a very strong showing for the first full month of 74-plate registrations, flip-flopping between first and second positions each month since. With good reason, too — it's one of the very best cars on sale full stop, not just among small SUVs. The Ford Puma is blessed with excellent handling and a huge boot, making it both fun to drive and practical for young families. Its range of mild hybrid 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engines perfectly suit the Puma's sportiness, while its comfortable cabin makes it great for urban jaunts and long motorway trips. It's also now available in fully electric guise as the Ford Puma Gen-E — will that model's introduction help it remain at the top for the rest of 2025?

Read our full Ford Puma review

2. Kia Sportage

19,636 registered

Kia Sportage facelift

The current Kia Sportage is a distinctive looking, family-sized SUV — although, arguably less bold than the Hyundai Tucson it shares its underpinnings and engines with. It's no longer a budget buy, with a north of £30,000 starting price but you get masses of kit for your money, backed by Kia's seven-year warranty. Mild, self-charging and plug-in petrol hybrids are available but there's no diesel alternative these days. The Kia Sportage is on the brink of receiving a significant mid-life refresh — expect to see plenty of those facelifted models on the road later in in the year — but that hasn't stopped the outgoing design from contuing to rack-up sales in 2025.

Read our full Kia Sportage review

3. Nissan Qashqai

22,085 registered

A mid-life makeover for the 2024's best-selling British-built car has reinvigorated the Nissan Qashqai, keeping it looking fresh-faced in the company of newer rivals — so much so it was June 2025's best-seller. It's an effective family SUV with a comfortable, good quality interior peppered with practical touches and complemented by an enormous boot. There's no diesel option as the range consists of mild hybrids and the self-charging variety — the latter, badged e-Power, operates in a way that maximises its its electric drive potential, making it a cost-effective plug-in hybrid alternative. 

Read our full Nissan Qashqai review

4. Vauxhall Corsa

20,128 registered

Getting off to a strong start in 2025 is the Vauxhall Corsa, aided and abetted by very attractive deals on its Yes specification models. These have seen a surge of buyers tempted to go battery-powered as the Yes-grade versions of the Vauxhall Corsa Electric are great value for money. Despite several manufacturers abandoning the small hatchback market, many customers still want new models of similar dimensions to what they're trading in, allowing various Stellantis brands to capitalise on the opportunity. With the Ford Fiesta now consigned to the annals of history, the Corsa could be picking up Blue Oval loyalists coming to the end of their PCP deals for a year or two more yet. 

Read our full Vauxhall Corsa review

5. Nissan Juke

18,527 registered

Strong sales have seen the Nissan Juke cement its Top 10 ranking overall for 2025's year-to-date sales. Built alongside the Qashqai in Nissan's northeastern England plant, the Juke's styling remains distinctive but isn't as divisive as the original's, broadening its appeal to the benefit of sales volumes. The Juke received a freshen-up in 2024 inside and out, although the engine range, shared with its Renault Captur cousin, remains essentially as before, with a choice of petrol and self-charging hybrids. Nissan has recently confirmed that an all-new electric-only Juke will go on sale during 2026 sitting below the all-new Leaf SUV in its line-up.

Read our full Nissan Juke review

6. Volkswagen Golf

16,884 registered

Comfort, solidity and fine handling are long-standing Volkswagen Golf hallmarks, qualities amplified further thanks to its 2024 facelift, which introduced a swathe of interior improvements that have largely banished our previous gripes about this VW. The best-selling non-SUV of 2024, the Golf's available with a wide range of petrol and diesel engines, in addition to mild and plug-in hybrid options, although the even roomier Volkswagen Golf Estate is no longer available to order. Underneath, the Golf continues to share hardware with the better-value SEAT Leon and Skoda Octavia as well as the pricier Audi A3 and Cupra Leon.

Read our full Volkswagen Golf review

7. MG HS

16,115 registered

MG HS

Following a positive jump in sales during June, the MG HS is continuing to win buyers over with its combination of excellent value for money and high levels of standard equipment since this all-new model appeared in summer 2024. Like its predecessor, it's available in petrol-only and fuel-sipping plug-in hybrid guises, the latter appealing to those who don't yet feel ready to go full EV. Further expansion of the line-up during May 2025 also saw the arrival of the first self-charging hybrid-powered MG HS providing even broader customer choice.

Read our full MG HS review

8. Hyundai Tucson

15,496 registered

Hyundai Tucson

Sharing its underpinnings and the full suite of mild, self-charging and plug-in hybrid-assisted engines with the Kia Sportage, the Hyundai Tucson is pitched a little further upmarket in terms of price, equipment and interior finish. Other than those factors there's little to separate them aside from which of the pair's styling appeals more and whether the Hyundai's five-year/unlimited mileage warranty would serve you better than the Kia's seven-year/100,000-mile alternative. Either way, the Tucson will provide years of reliable and fuel-efficient service.

Read our full Hyundai Tucson review

9. Volvo XC40

15,267 registered

Volvo XC40

Despite its design now approaching its eighth birthday, the Volvo XC40's shrink-washed Tonka styling continues to ensure its popularity — so much so that strong April 2025 sales saw it reappear in the year-to-date top 10 best-sellers rankings. Remember that the XC40's registration tally only includes the mild hybrid-assisted petrol-engined versions as the fully electric models were renamed Volvo EX40 during 2024 and no longer count towards this car's figures.

Read our full Volvo XC40 review

10. Volkswagen Tiguan

15,233 registered

British buyers have a long-standing fondness for the Volkswagen Tiguan which appears to have continued with this third-generation model. A strong start to 2025 has seen the VW vault into the top 10 for the year-to-date as the brand's second best-selling car, with only the Golf ahead of it. Spacious, well-equipped and built to a high standard, the Tiguan's a family focused SUV that can prove inexpensive to run with a choice of efficient petrols and diesels as well as eHybrid PHEV options. Note that the old seven-seater Tiguan Allspace has been replaced by the Volkswagen Tayron.

Read our full Volkswagen Tiguan review

What were the UK's best-selling cars in June 2025?

It's far from unusual to find cars randomly appearing to record high levels of sales in any given month yet not make an appearance in the year-to-date top 10 picture. Compare June 2025's top 10 below with the registrations for the year so far above and you'll notice four outliers:

  1. Nissan Qashqai — 5008 registrations
  2. Ford Puma — 4419 registrations
  3. Tesla Model Y — 4181 registrations
  4. Vauxhall Corsa — 3583 registrations
  5. MG HS — 3567 registrations
  6. Tesla Model 3 — 3538 registrations
  7. Kia Sportage — 3376 registrations
  8. Volkswagen T-Roc — 3295 registrations
  9. Nissan Juke — 3278 registrations
  10. Peugeot 2008 — 3212 registrations

What were the UK's best-selling cars in May 2025?

Month-to-month sales often vary considerably from one another just as they frequently do from the overall year-to-date picture. Compare May 2025's top 10 with the registrations for the year so far and spot the differences:

What are the UK's best-selling car brands in 2025?

Volkswagen has enjoyed an impressive start to 2025 with a significant gulf between its top-ranking sales tally and BMW in second place, which in turn has a modest margin over Kia in third.

After dominating the UK market for decades it still seems odd seeing Ford in fourth position ahead of Audi in fifth position. Rounding-out the top 10 — and separated by fewer than 2500 registrations — are Nissan, Hyundai, Peugeot, Mercedes and Vauxhall. 

Of the recently launched Chinese brands BYD's sales tally continues to impress as it's broken into the top 20 for the first half of 2025.

Meanwhile, the accumulated registrations of Jaecoo and Omoda, both part of Chery Automobile Company, are extraordinary compared with established names. Together they've sold more cars in the UK this year than Honda. Factor-in that Chery also intends to launch its iCaur and Lepas brands in the UK within 12 months and their combined sales potential will have many legacy manufacturers deeply concerned.

There's less happy reading at the bottom of the chart for newcomers Skywell with just 11 examples of its BE11 electric SUV registered so far in 2025 after clocking up two sales in June.

Ranking Brand Manufacturing Group  2025 Registrations (to end of June)
1 Volkswagen Volkswagen Group 94,156
2 BMW BMW Group 65,698
3 Kia Hyundai Motor Company 62,005
4 Ford Ford Motor Company 60,402
5 Audi Volkswagen Group 53,538
6 Nissan Nissan Motor Corporation* 49,149
7 Hyundai Hyundai Motor Company 48,778
8 Peugeot Stellantis 48,660
9 Mercedes Mercedes-Benz Group 47,970
10 Vauxhall Stellantis 46,682
11 Toyota Toyota Motor Corporation 46,349
12 Skoda Volkswagen Group 43,837
13 MG SAIC Motor Corporation 42,617
14 Land Rover Tata Motors 35,247
15 Volvo Zhejiang Geely Holding Group 33,870
16 Renault Renault Group* 33,237
17 Tesla Tesla Inc. 22,721
18 MINI BMW Group 21,953
19 BYD BYD Company 19,390
20 Cupra Volkswagen Group 19,122
21 Mazda Mazda Motor Corporation^ 18,809
22 Dacia Renault Group* 16,125
23 Honda Honda Motor Co. 13,220
24 SEAT Volkswagen Group 12,324
25 Porsche Volkswagen Group 9,531
26 Suzuki Suzuki Motor Corporation^ 9,499
27 Citroen Stellantis 9,383
28 Lexus Toyota Motor Corporation 8,784
29 Jaecoo Chery Automobile Co. 8,399
30 Polestar Zhejiang Geely Holding Group 8,323
31 Omoda Chery Automobile Co. 6,941
32 Jeep Stellantis 6,624
33 Fiat Stellantis 6,136
34 Jaguar Tata Motors 1,725
35 Other British   1,720
36 Alfa Romeo Stellantis 1,308
37 Subaru Subaru Corporation^ 1,261
38 Other Imports   1,031
39 DS Stellantis 948
40 KGM KG Group 835
41 Genesis Hyundai Motor Company 789
42 Smart Mercedes-Benz and Zhejiang Geely 775
43 Leapmotor Zhejiang Leapmotor# 542
44 Bentley Volkswagen Group 530
45 Alpine Renault Group* 327
46 Abarth Stellantis 201
47 GWM Great Wall Motor Company 193
48 Maserati Stellantis 171
49 XPeng Guangzhou Xiaopeng Motors 165
50 Ineos Ineos Automotive 131
51 Maxus SAIC Motor Corporation 43
52 Chevrolet General Motors 34
53 Skywell Skyworth Group 11

*Strategic partnership within the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance

^Shareholding owned by the Toyota Motor Corporation

#Shareholding owned by Stellantis

What are the UK's best-selling cars over the last 50 years?

Over the past 50 years the variety of brands, models, shapes and sizes of cars to have been the UK's annual-best-seller is extraordinary. Which of these cars have played a part in your motoring history?

What is the UK's best-selling car of all time?

With 4,132,294 sales to its name, the Ford Fiesta is the most popular car ever sold in the UK. Of course, that's the total number of cars badged Fiesta over seven generations across six different decades: