Ford Puma and Kia Sportage race for UK's best-selling new car crown

Overall, the market was down in October, yet again.

Ford Puma / Kia Sportage

Photo by: Motor1.com

Angel Sergeev

By: Angel Sergeev

Nov 6, 2024 at 4:33am ET

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The UK’s new car market saw a 6 per cent slump in October, marking the second sales dip this year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). A total of 144,288 fresh sets of wheels rolled onto the roads – fewer than anticipated, and certainly fewer than last year. Two crossovers are at the top of the sales charts but we’ll get to that in a minute.

It wasn’t just one type of buyer who was tightening the purse strings. Fleets, the backbone of the corporate car world, shrank for the second time this year, dipping by 1.7 per cent. Meanwhile, the small-business crowd did some serious belt-tightening with a 12.8 per cent drop in purchases. Private buyers? Their car enthusiasm has been fading for two years straight, down by 11.8 per cent, meaning fewer than 40 per cent of cars sold in 2024 so far are hitting private driveways.

UK sales reports for previous months:

UK new car sales see modest bump in September, Korean SUV at the top

UK new car market sees minor dip in August, Ford still on top

In the great fuel debate, it’s clear that petrol and diesel are no longer the darlings they once were. Petrol deliveries took a 14.2 per cent nosedive, whilst diesel did them one worse, dropping by a hefty 20.5 per cent. Even hybrids couldn’t escape the downslide, with both hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) seeing declines of 1.6 per cent and 3.2 per cent, respectively.

UK's best-selling models in October 2024:

1. Kia Sportage - 4,533
2. Ford Puma - 3,521
3. Mini Cooper - 2,921
4. Volvo XC40 - 2,675
5. Volkswagen Tiguan - 2,477
6. Ford Kuga - 2,428
7. Toyota Yaris - 2,369
8. Nissan Qashqai - 2,348
9. MG HS - 2,299
10. Peugeot 208 - 2,267

Yet in this gloomy landscape, there’s a glimmer of high-voltage hope. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) seem to be the chosen ones, with sales rising by 24.5 per cent in October alone. BEVs now make up a healthy 20.7 per cent of the market, and with more than 125 electric models to choose from – a jump of 38 per cent in just 10 months – buyers aren’t exactly short on choice.

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What’s the overall picture when it comes to brands and models? The Kia Sportage was the best-selling model in October, followed by the Ford Puma and Mini Cooper. For the first 10 months of the year, the two crossovers are competing against each other for the top spot, with the Puma still holding a minimal lead of 350 cars.

UK’s best-selling models year-to-date:

1. Ford Puma - 42,465
2. Kia Sportage - 42,115
3. Nissan Qashqai - 35,271
4. Nissan Juke - 30,548
5. Volkswagen Golf - 29,427
6. Hyundai Tucson - 28,115
7. Audi A3 - 26,830
8. Volkswagen Polo - 25,817
9. MG HS - 25,414
10. Volvo XC40 - 24,621

Source: SMMT

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