March is always an interesting month for the UK car market, as it marks the first plate change of two – with people flocking to dealers hoping to get hold of a vehicle on the latest plates. This year was no different, although sales were down compared to 2018 by 3.4 per cent – with 458,054 vehicles registered, compared to 474,069.
But which cars proved to be the most popular last month? We take a look…
1. Ford Fiesta – 14,676 units
As ever, the Ford Fiesta led the way for registrations and is, yet again, streaking away with the annual title as well – clocking 23,474 unit sales so far in 2019. The Fiesta helped solidify the supermini’s dominance on the UK car market, as well as the…
2. Vauxhall Corsa – 13,244
Despite only selling 4,405 versions before March, Vauxhall had an excellent month with the Corsa – helping it jump up to second place in the 2019 standings. It even overtook the Golf, which is normally seen as the UK’s second favourite model.
3. Volkswagen Golf – 11,072
Despite getting leapfrogged by the Corsa, the ever-popular German hatch still had a decent month. Only 435 sales behind the Corsa, the Golf ranks third in the annual standings with 17,412 units.
4. Mercedes-Benz A-Class – 10,805
The premium compact is having a good start to 2019, ranking fifth overall so far with 16,632 sales and is consistently outperforming its closest rivals. Ranking ahead of the VW Polo and Mini Hatch, the A-Class is leading its field.
5. Nissan Qashqai – 10,701
The first SUV on the list is of no surprise – as it has consistently ranked close to the top of the monthly rankings for some time. But the Qashqai is alone in the March standings, as the rest of the models are all hatchbacks and superminis. It remains sixth for 2019 with 16,420 sales.
6. Ford Focus – 9,734
Ford’s second model inside the top 10 is no surprise, but it could be said that it underperformed. Ranking fourth for the year with 16,668 sales, the Focus slipped behind two of its closest rivals in terms of units sold for March and is just 36 models ahead of the A-Class.
7. Mini Hatch – 8,896
Ranking behind one of its main competitors, the Mini is still a popular option amongst Brits. Now eighth overall for 2019, it managed to outsell rivals like the VW Polo and BMW 1 Series, which are much safer options in terms of styling.
8. Volkswagen Polo – 8,614
The second VW inside the top ten lagged behind its nearest rivals in the compact segment. With its closest competitors 1,120 units behind for 2019, the Polo is in a bit of a no-man’s-land in seventh.
9. BMW 1 Series – 7,986
With this generation of 1 Series coming to an end, BMW will be pleased to see it still performing to a high level on the UK market. However, the German marque has some work to do to get the 1 Series inside the top ten for 2019.
10. Toyota Yaris – 7,853
Yet another supermini made it inside the top 10 for March, and the Japanese option now sits in ninth place for 2019 – ahead of the Ford Kuga. Last month contributed a considerable amount to its year-to-date sales of 11,400.
