The best-selling new automobiles of 2023 have been revealed, do you’ve gotten one?
- Industry knowledge has revealed that are the best-selling manufacturers, fashions, EVs and vans of the final 12 months
- Crown of the most-bought motor has returned to Ford after a two-year hiatus – but it surely’s not gone to the Fiesta
- Three British-built fashions are among the many 10 hottest automobiles of the final 12 months – this is the countdown
The high 10 best-selling new automobiles of 2023 have been confirmed by official trade figures – and it confirms Ford’s return to high spot… however not with the Fiesta.
Registrations knowledge collated by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) lists the highest fashions by gross sales figures in Britain final yr – and among the many 10 most in-demand motors is three British-built automobiles.
The figures additionally reveal which manufacturers have been hottest, the main electrical automobiles (EVs) by gross sales and even probably the most generally purchased vans.
Here’s the rundown of the ten most-bought new automobiles of final yr…
10. Vauxhall Mokka – 29,984 offered
Price: from £24,310
Vauxhall’s Mokka crossover has damaged into the highest 10 finest sellers checklist, having amassed nearly 30,000 registrations in 2023. It now formally outsells the Astra household hatchback
Vauxhall’s Mokka compact crossover has damaged into the highest 10 finest sellers, although solely narrowly missed out on ninth spot, having been overtaken in December by the following automobile on this checklist.
Starting from £23,300, Mokka’s reputation amongst motorists this yr comes as little shock given the continued improve in urge for food for compact SUVs – and the sizable reductions Vauxhall sellers are prepared to supply on its automobiles.
While the vast majority of gross sales are petrol variations, the Mokka Electric has additionally helped to tally up whole registrations for the nameplate (although not sufficient to make the highest 10 checklist of best-selling EVs in 2023).
In phrases of name share, Mokkas made up three in ten (30 per cent) of all Vauxhall registrations final yr – and it now outsells the Astra.
9. Audi A3 – 30,159 offered
Price: from £28,650
The Audi A3 is the one C-segment household hatchback to make it into the highest 10 finest sellers, which comes as fairly the shock given the checklist in earlier years has been dominated by the likes of the Ford Focus and VW Golf
Incredibly, the Audi A3 is the one standard ‘C-segment’ [medium-size] hatchback to make the highest 10 hottest automobiles of the final yr. That’s a significant shock if you 22 per cent) contemplate that automobiles just like the Ford Focus, Mercedes A-Class, Vauxhall Astra and Volkswagen Golf have dominated the best-sellers checklist for the final 20 years.
Proving that premium badges are nonetheless highly regarded, the A3 now leads all its sector rivals when it comes to UK gross sales with simply over 30,150 items final yr. This is regardless of its barely inflated pricing, with the most cost effective variant presently costing £28,650.
Audi has now moved as much as third total when it comes to model gross sales, with solely Volkswagen and Ford delivering extra motors to Britons in 2023.
The A3 makes up one in 5 (22 per cent) of Audi’s annual UK gross sales for the earlier 12 months, the official knowledge exhibits.
There was additionally success for the German producer’s This autumn e-tron SUV, which was the third hottest EV in 2023 with 16,757 registrations.
READ MORE: New automobiles gross sales grew 18% in 2023 marking finest yr for registrations because the pandemic – however low EV demand might chunk producers
Some 1.9million new automobiles entered the UK’s roads final yr, based on the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. But there are additional indicators of shopper EV demand going into reverse at a pivotal time for producers
New automobile gross sales have bounced again to their highest stage because the pandemic, with some 1.9million fashions coming into the highway in 2023, official registration figures present.
The new automobile market in Britain grew by nearly 18% yearly in opposition to a troublesome financial backdrop, the Society of Motor Manufactures and Traders stated this morning.
But whereas the info exhibits that the variety of electrical automobile registrations in 2023 exceeded the earlier two years mixed, the numbers masks the actual fact gross sales dipped beneath forecasts and urge for food for battery automobiles has dwindled.
The statistics present just one in 11 personal patrons in Britain buying new automobiles final yr selected an EV, which might spell hassle for producers as binding targets to extend battery mannequin gross sales – else face hefty fines – have been launched into regulation this week.
> Read our full report of 2023 new automobile gross sales figures
8. Nissan Juke – 31,745 offered
Price: from £20,985
The first of three British-built automobiles to make it into the highest 10 finest sellers checklist is the Nissan Juke. With nearly 31,750 registrations in 2023, it means one in three Nissans coming into the highway final yr was the compact crossover
The first of three British-built automobiles to make the highest 10 sellers checklist is the Nissan Juke, which is assembled on the Japanese producer’s UK manufacturing facility in Sunderland.
Amassing 31,745 registrations in 2023, it comfortably cemented itself within the league desk of fashionable new fashions.
The crossover – a rival to the Vauxhall Mokka – is competitively priced, with the least-expensive mannequin beginning at a shade below £21,000.
It represented over a 3rd (35 per cent) of all Nissans offered in Britain final yr… but it surely wasn’t the preferred automobile for the marque, as you can find out very shortly…
7. Mini – 33,385 offered
Price: from £22,935
Mini sellers within the UK offered nearly 33,400 examples of the three and five-door hatchback. Mini has not too long ago unveiled its subsequent era model (pictured proper) in addition to plans to show its Oxford manufacturing unit into an EV manufacturing website
Mini not solely gives the hatchback as a 3 and five-door instance, the battery-powered Mini Electric can also be included in whole gross sales for the hatch. And it continues to be fashionable amongst Britons throughout the board, regardless of the actual fact the Mini’s British roots are actually within the palms of BMW possession.
While it was the fifth most-bought new automobile of 2022, the third era ‘BMW Mini’ has slipped down the pecking order to seventh – regardless of the actual fact seller offered extra on them in in 2023 (33,385) than they did the 12 months earlier (32,387).
It exhibits that demand for many of the fashions within the checklist in entrance of it was larger than 12 months in the past, however Mini might reestablish its place quickly because the model prepares to start deliveries of the next-generation Mini later this yr.
Bosses on the automobile maker additionally confirmed again in September that it’s going to construct its next-generation electrical Minis in Oxford after securing a authorities funding bundle. The German-owned model will pump £600million funding to remodel Mini’s Cowley manufacturing unit – a transfer described by each BMW and the Government as ‘a vote of confidence in Britain’ and one that may safeguard a nationwide automotive icon.
6. Hyundai Tucson – 34,469 offered
Price: from £31,500
Hyundai’s Tucson is the sixth best-selling new automobile of 2023, based on the SMMT’s official figures. Dealers offered round 6,600 extra examples of the SUV than they did within the earlier yr, SMMT knowledge exhibits
The latest-generation Hyundai Tucson is a high quality mid-size SUV. It’s the sister automobile to the Kia Sportage (which we’ll get to very shortly) and epitomises the rise of those Korean manufacturers in recent times by means of the discharge of competitively-priced – and high quality – automobiles.
This Mk4 instance was unveiled in 2020 and comes with a singular look that may not be to all tastes – particularly the ‘face’ of the automobile, with its monumental grille that includes the headlight clusters.
Sold with a selection of hybrid – and plug-in hybrid – engines, a lot of specification as commonplace and a tech-rammed inside, we’re not stunned to see it on this checklist with 34,469 registrations in 2023 – some 6,600 greater than the yr earlier (27,839).
5. Tesla Model Y – 35,899 gross sales
Price: from £44,990
Tesla’s Model Y has fallen two locations within the high 10 finest sellers checklist in comparison with a yr in the past. With nearly 35,900 registrations, gross sales have remained flat in opposition to 2022 figures. That stated, three in 4 new Teslas purchased in 2023 have been the Y SUV
Tesla’s SUV has held onto its crown as Britain’s most registered electrical automobile, with nearly 35,900 offered in 2023.
Despite the Model 3 being cheaper, the Y represents nearly three quarters (72 per cent) of all Tesla gross sales for final yr, with firm automobile drivers snapping them up with assistance from wage sacrifice schemes to reap the benefits of low profit in form taxation on EVs.
While this might be celebrated as a hit, given the expansion of the brand new automobile market within the final 12 months, the Model Y’s gross sales are barely improved on 2022, when the US maker shifted 35,551 examples. This has seen it drop down the highest 10 order, falling two locations from third final yr to fifth throughout all gasoline sorts in 2023.
This is regardless of Tesla’s well-documented worth cuts for the Model Y – and Model 3 – within the early months of final yr, which noticed the model slash as much as £9,000 off the Y in January.
It paints wider image of falling demand for Teslas final yr, which noticed its registrations slide by 9.3 per cent year-on-year.
The Model Y presently prices from between £44,990 and £59,990, with official ranges of 283 to 331 miles relying on the variant chosen.
4. Kia Sportage – 36,135 offered
Price: from £29,375
One in each three Kias that entered the UK’s roads final yr was a Sportage SUV, such is its rising reputation. And for good motive, too, given it’s an all-round high performer
Like its Hyundai Tucson sister automobile, the Sportage has offered in large numbers in 2022. However, not like its Korean sibling, this has been the case for the Kia SUV for a while, with the Sportage typically showing in and across the 10 finest sellers in recent times.
The fifth-generation instance in showrooms as we speak is proof of how far the Korean producer has come in recent times, with the Sportage full of equipment, good-looking seems and refined experience.
Like the Tucson, it has distinctive styling – particularly these boomerang-shaped headlights. Sold with a selection of petrol, standard hybrid and plug-in hybrid drivetrains, there’s loads of selection for purchasers, too.
The 36,135 coming into the highway final yr was nearly 6,500 greater than in 2022 (29,655) and represents a 3rd (34 per cent) of all Kia gross sales over the 12-month interval.
3. Vauxhall Corsa – 40,816 offered
Price: from £19,275
Vauxhall’s Corsa continues to be the preferred small automobile in Britain. A facelifted model of the small hatchback has simply gone on sale providing sharper seems and extra know-how in a bid to maintain it in the direction of the summit of the gross sales chart
Having overtaken the Fiesta when it comes to reputation in 2021, the Corsa continues to be the small automobile of selection amongst Britons, with Vauxhall delivering some 40,800 new examples to UK prospects in 2023.
With demand for the as soon as fashionable Astra flagging compared, the Corsa is by far the model’s greatest vendor, making up two in 5 (41 per cent) of all new Vauxhalls coming into the highway final yr.
The availability of the Corsa Electric has additionally helped bolster registrations, although it’s petrol fashions which are driving the majority of demand.
A facelifted model of each the traditional and battery-powered supermini has simply gone on sale in Britain, providing sharper seems and extra tech than earlier than to in a bid to assist the Corsa retain its title because the nation’s favorite small automobile.
2. Nissan Qashqai – 42,321 offered
Price: from £27,120
Last yr’s finest vendor has slipped to second place: The Nissan Qashqai could not fairly replicate its gross sales chart-topping efficiency of 2022 – but it surely did not miss out by a lot
Last yr’s best-selling automobile of 2022 has slipped one place, with Nissan’s Qashqai SUV amassing simply over 42,300 registrations in 2023, which is simply 383 items in need of final yr.
It continues to be by far Nissan’s hottest automobile, accounting for nearly half (47 per cent) of the Japanese model’s gross sales within the UK final time period.
Not solely has it retained its crown as the preferred household SUV mannequin – a document it has held because the first era mannequin arrived in the marketplace in 2007 – it’s the finest promoting domestically-built motor, with manufacturing of Qashqai positioned in Sunderland, the place the Juke and Leaf EV are additionally manufactured.
The latest introduction of an ‘e-Power’ hybrid Qashqai has helped to maintain it on the sharp finish of the gross sales league desk.
1. Ford Puma – 49,591 offered
Price: from £25,640
The Ford Puma was Britain’s best-selling new automobile in 2023, amassing nearly 49,600 registrations over the 12 months. It sees Ford return to the highest of the mannequin gross sales charts, having been dethroned within the earlier two years following a 50-year keep within the primary slot
Ford has jumped again to the primary spot within the UK new automobile gross sales chart. But it isn’t the Fiesta – Britain’s most-owned automobile on the highway as we speak – that has reclaimed the crown…
The Puma crossover has taken up the mantle because the nation’s favorite new mannequin, propelling Ford again to the highest of the order after a two-year hiatus.
The rise in reputation of the Puma is partly all the way down to the demise of the Fiesta, with Ford final summer season ceasing manufacturing of Britain’s best-seller for 12 consecutive years between 2009 to 2020.
Its rise to the primary spot additionally cements its place because the nation’s go to compact crossover – a gong it has held for 4 years straight, outperforming the likes of the Nissan Juke, Skoda Kamiq Vauxhall Mokka.
The 49,591 offered in 2023 is 14,500 greater than Ford sellers shifted the yr earlier (35,088), which works to point out the sizable influence of the Fiesta disappearing. One in three (34 per cent) of all new Fords coming into the highway final yr have been Pumas, the numbers present.
Customers have been drawn to its trendy seems, participating dealing with and increase to practicality and elevated driving place over a traditional hatchback.
Prices begin from simply over £25,600 within the UK for the Titanium trim-level. All standard Pumas include a 1.0-litre Ecoboost petrol engine with delicate hybrid tech. And additionally it is obtainable as a potent 200 horsepower ST hot-hatch with a 1.5-litre turbo petrol, widening the mannequin’s buyer attraction.
CARS & MOTORING: ON TEST
