Along with March, September is a key point in the year for vehicle manufacturers in the UK, as it’s when number plates switch to a new suffix.
This came, however, in a month where overall sales were down by 20.5 per cent – with SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes putting the decline down to new vehicle testing processes and manufacturing bottlenecks.
But which cars performed best last month? We take a look at the top ten…
1. Ford Fiesta – 12,227
As expected, the nation’s favourite continues to top the sales charts with more than 1,500 extra units sold than any other model. After the latest generation was unveiled last year, the Fiesta has gone from strength to strength and cemented its place at the top of the 2018 sales table.
2. Vauxhall Corsa – 10,660
Currently sitting third in the overall sales for 2018, the Corsa was a distant second from the Fiesta in September, but was well ahead of the next-best model with more than 2,600 extra sales. Even though it lags behind its main rival – the Fiesta in all segments – it overtook the Nissan Qashqai in the year-to-date statistics last month.
3. Mercedes-Benz A-Class – 8,005
After being revealed at the start of the year, the new A-Class has been slowly creeping into the top 10 for the year, and sold exceptionally in September as well. The premium hatchback was ahead of two of its major rivals in the top 10, too, showing that Mercedes-Benz has done a good job with this new version.
4. Nissan Qashqai – 7,033
As the country’s most popular crossover, it’s no surprise the Qashqai continued to perform at a high level in the UK sales charts. Although it lost a place in the overall table for 2018, the Nissan is considerably ahead of its next crossover rival – the Kia Sportage – by more than 13,000 sales for the year so far.
5. Mini Hatch – 6,931
The stylish hatchback continues to be a favourite amongst UK drivers, and the BMW-built model has quality on its side. Although it ranked below one of its main rivals – the Mercedes A-Class – it still performed excellently – maintaining its place within the yearly top 10.
6. Nissan Juke – 6,710
The Qashqai’s smaller sibling did surprisingly well in September, ranking well inside the top 10. Even though it isn’t as popular as its larger siblings, only 323 fewer units were sold last month and was ahead of one its main competitors, the Ford Kuga.
7. Kia Sportage – 6,309
Although this year overall sees the Sportage rank 10th, September was a successful month for the mid-size SUV model as it came ahead of more premium and usually more popular cars. With this month’s performance, the Kia now has 28,779 sales this year.
8. BMW 1 Series – 6,280
The premium hatchback model hasn’t done as well this year as in the past, but with the plate change came a high volume of sales for the 1 Series. Despite the good performance this month, it still lags behind rivals like the Mini Hatch and Mercedes A-Class.
9. Ford Focus – 6,177
The family hatchback is a model that usually performs well on these shores, and as a new version was released on last month, it’s expected to become that yet again. The new Focus continues on from the last version, but with a sharper exterior design and additional tech, it should be higher up the table in no time.
10. Ford Kuga – 6,018
Rounding out the September top 10 is the Kuga, which has maintained its place in the yearly top 10 with its performance last month. Currently in eighth, the Kuga has been sold 32,480 times so far in 2018.