10:48 am, January 7, 2025
Volkswagen finished top of the pile in 2024’s new car registrations, while Chinese brands made strong gains and overtook some of the industry’s most long-standing manufacturers.
The German giant sold more than 166,000 cars last year according to latest data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, retaining its top spot for another year. The Golf, which celebrated its 50th birthday in 2024, continued to be VW’s biggest selling car in the UK and finished the year with 32,370 sales to its name.
The Polo, which celebrates its half-century in 2025, was the tenth best-selling car last year clocking up 28,891 sales.
Jeep finished the year recording one of the largest sales growths with registrations soaring by over 192%, and it was a good year for Smart (up 152.36%), Volvo (up 32.33%), Renault (up 36.25%), Nissan (up 12.28%), Skoda (up 12.25%) and Peugeot (up 10.42%).
German premium brands BMW and Mercedes-Benz finished the year with 125,265 and 102,757 sales representing percentage growths of 12.11% and 17.06% respectively, while Audi saw a chunky 10.95% drop to 122,431 units.
Jaguar posted a robust 16.73% rise to 16,617 while sister brand Land Rover exceeded 61,000 sales – a 14.80% increase.
Volume brands Ford and Vauxhall suffered, however, with both positing heavy drops of 23.68% and 21.43% respectively.
Tesla just ticked over 50,000 cars strengthening the American car maker’s strong position in the UK car market, while fellow pure-electric premium brand Polestar saw a 30.69% fall with 8,693 sales.
It was a stellar year for new Chinese entrant BYD. The brand sold over 8,700 cars, comfortably beating Alfa Romeo, DS Automobiles, Genesis and Subaru combined.
Rival brands Ora and Omoda chalked up sales of 1,162 and 3,629 respectively, while MG finished the year with a punchy 81,53 beating Vauxhall.
The full chart of car sales last year is listed below.
