11:40 am, June 4, 2021
The Volkswagen Golf rose to the top of the best-sellers chart in May and took the title of the month’s most popular new car, new figures show.
Data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) today (Jun 4) shows Volkswagen shifted 4,181 Golfs during the month, comfortably ahead of the second-placed Vauxhall Corsa which recorded 3,643 registrations.
It was a successful month for Volkswagen as the Polo finished in third place in the top-sellers chart with 3,518 cars to its name.
The Mercedes-Benz A-Class was ranked in fourth thanks to 3,313 registrations and the Ford Puma rounded off the top five with 3,158 – the first time the Puma has finished ahead of its Fiesta sister car.
The Kia Sportage (2,956) sat between the two Ford models in May with the Fiesta coming in a surprising seventh place with 2,794 registrations.
The Fiesta, once the best-selling car every month for the past few years, could well be the victim of the supply problems affecting the new car industry, believes one expert.
What Car? editorial chief Jim Holder tweeted: ‘Suspect the 7th place for the month nearly sums up all you need to know about the supply constraints/focus on profits at the moment’.
Family-favourite Ford Focus, meanwhile, was nowhere to be seen in the top 10 chart.
The Fiesta was followed by the Toyota Yaris (2,578), the Mini (2,561) and the Audi A3 in tenth place with 2,489 registrations to its name.
Meanwhile, in the year-to-date, it’s a different story with the Corsa remaining top dog with 20,024 registrations so far in 2021. It’s followed by the Fiesta (17,700), the A-Class (16,752), Golf (14,979) and the Nissan Qashqai (14,447).
Overall, May saw 156,737 cars registered during the month.
While that figure did represent an eight-fold increase on May 2020 when showrooms were shut, the month was down by nearly 15 per cent on a pre-pandemic May 2019.
