Cars
The UK new car market enjoyed a very slight burst of optimism in January 2012 as volume increased 0.03% compared with January 2012. In terms of Britain's favourite vehicles, however, many were significantly less popular this year than last.
The United Kingdom's best-selling car in January was the Ford Fiesta, and it certainly was not less popular this year than last.
This strange downward fluctuations aren't such a strange occurrence in the United Kingdom new vehicle market. Volume is small and thus prone to serious swings. Nevertheless, the vehicles ranked second through sixth on this list of the UK's ten best-selling cars - and that's half the list - posted year-over-year declines averaging 15%. Collectively, those five vehicles reported a 17.3% drop.
Considering the 21% decline reported by GM's Vauxhall brand in January 2012, we shouldn't be surprised to see that the company's two best-selling nameplates fell 17% and 26%. But Volkswagen's best-selling car, the Golf, was down 3% even as the VW brand climbed 5%. Meanwhile, January 2011's best-selling car, the Ford Focus, lost its crown to 2011's best-selling car, the Ford Fiesta, as Focus sales slid 26% and Fiesta sales soared 34%.
GoodCarBadCar.net does not possess an in-house UK auto market expert, so we'll leave you to the numbers. One interesting fact: 53.7% of all new vehicles sold were fitted with diesel engines, up from 50.5% in January 2011. Check out brand-by-brand rankings for the UK car market's January 2012 performance here. For now, check out the top 10 best-selling cars in the United Kingdom for January 2012 before examining, for context's sake, previous versions through the links below the table.
Source: Manufacturers, MTI & SMMT
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales
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After a one-month break in which its big brother took over as Britain's best-selling car, the Ford Fiesta was back on top in March 2012. Focus sales rose 5% year-over-year, but the Fiesta's growth from 19,676 units in March 2011 to 22,667 was...
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Cars
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The United Kingdom - January 2012
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| Above: The 3-door Audi A3, a car not sold in North America |
The United Kingdom's best-selling car in January was the Ford Fiesta, and it certainly was not less popular this year than last.
This strange downward fluctuations aren't such a strange occurrence in the United Kingdom new vehicle market. Volume is small and thus prone to serious swings. Nevertheless, the vehicles ranked second through sixth on this list of the UK's ten best-selling cars - and that's half the list - posted year-over-year declines averaging 15%. Collectively, those five vehicles reported a 17.3% drop.
Considering the 21% decline reported by GM's Vauxhall brand in January 2012, we shouldn't be surprised to see that the company's two best-selling nameplates fell 17% and 26%. But Volkswagen's best-selling car, the Golf, was down 3% even as the VW brand climbed 5%. Meanwhile, January 2011's best-selling car, the Ford Focus, lost its crown to 2011's best-selling car, the Ford Fiesta, as Focus sales slid 26% and Fiesta sales soared 34%.
GoodCarBadCar.net does not possess an in-house UK auto market expert, so we'll leave you to the numbers. One interesting fact: 53.7% of all new vehicles sold were fitted with diesel engines, up from 50.5% in January 2011. Check out brand-by-brand rankings for the UK car market's January 2012 performance here. For now, check out the top 10 best-selling cars in the United Kingdom for January 2012 before examining, for context's sake, previous versions through the links below the table.
Rank | Best-Selling Car | January 2012 | % Change |
#1 | Ford Fiesta | 7824 | + 33.9% |
#2 | Ford Focus | 5643 | - 25.6% |
#3 | Volkswagen Golf | 3992 | - 2.9% |
#4 | Vauxhall Corsa | 3624 | - 16.9% |
#5 | Vauxhall Astra | 3340 | - 25.9% |
#6 | Volkswagen Polo | 2898 | - 3.7% |
#7 | Vauxhall Insignia | 2719 | + 21.6% |
#8 | Nissan Qashqai | 2627 | + 24.6% |
#9 | Audi A3 | 2380 | n/a |
#10 | Peugeot 207 | 2364 | + 8.9% |
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales
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UK Auto Sales By Brand - January 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - December 2011
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - January 2011
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - January 2012
- 2012 Year End Top 10 Best-selling Cars In The United Kingdom
The Ford Fiesta once again ended a calendar year as the best-selling car in the United Kingdom. In 2012, not only did the Fiesta post a 14% year-over-year increase in UK registrations, it overcame last year's decline to record a 6% improvement compared...
- September 2012 Top 10 Best-selling Cars In The United Kingdom
The United Kingdom's auto industry produced collective gains of 8.2%, a surprisingly strong month in what's always a high-volume time of year for UK new car sales. Both of the UK's two best-selling cars posted year-over-year growth much better...
- Top 10 Best-selling Cars In The United Kingdom - March 2012
After a one-month break in which its big brother took over as Britain's best-selling car, the Ford Fiesta was back on top in March 2012. Focus sales rose 5% year-over-year, but the Fiesta's growth from 19,676 units in March 2011 to 22,667 was...
- Top 10 Best-selling Cars In The United Kingdom - 2011 Year End
After winning every one of 2011's monthly races except January and February, which, as it happens, were won by the year end's second and fourth-place cars, the Ford Fiesta ended 2011 as the best-selling car in the United Kingdom. That's not...
- Top 10 Best-selling Cars In The Uk - January 2011
New vehicle sales fell by 11.5% in January 2011, according to SMMT. This drop failed to affect the Ford Focus's 9% gain over January 2010, but one look at a popular car like the Volkswagen Polo shows the impact of the United Kingdom's scrappage...