UK’s most popular car brand unveiled with over 140k sales this year

The UK's most popular car brands have been unveiled (Image: Getty)

The UK’s most popular car brand has been unveiled, with over 140,000 brand new vehicles sold to British customers so far in 2025. According to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), Volkswagen tops the new car sales list as of September 2025.

The German marque has sold a stunning 140,795 vehicles in the UK since January, an increase on the 128,541models sold by this stage last year. It means Volkswagen enjoys a 8.92% market share, up on the 8.49% market share in 2024 despite increased competition from the latest Chinese brands. The current trajectory puts Volkswagen on course to exceed last year’s 2024 full-year total of 166,304 new Volkswagen vehicles registered.

Volkswagen Golf

Over 140,000 Volkswagen cars have been sold in 2025 (Image: Getty)

It means the company looks set to become the UK’s best-selling new-car brand for the fifth successive year after scooping its fourth prize last December. When Volkswagen topped the 2024 sales table, Rod McLeod, director of Volkswagen UK, stressed the results “underline the quality and popularity of our range”.

He also praised the “fantastic network of Volkswagen Retailers” and celebrated their “outstanding customer service”. BMW was next with the fellow German marque shipping 96,629 vehicles so far in 2025, just slightly down on the 96,816 at this stage last year.

Kia has improved by almost 1% in 2024, with over 93,000 vehicles sold to new customers since the turn of the year.

Ford has enjoyed growth of 6,94% with their 91,506 sales almost 6,000 units higher than data recorded at this stage 12 months ago. Audi rounds up the top five with almost 85,000 cars sold to customers this year, giving the German brand a 6.12% market share.

However, data shows that demand for Audi’s has dropped considerably with sales down by almost 14,000 units, or 13.93%. Hyundai was next with 74,952 models sold so far in 2025, followed by Mercedes-Benz (73,238), Nissan (71,643) and Toyota (71,565).

French manufacturer Peugeot rounded out the top 10 with SMMT data showing that over 70,000 models have been sold to UK customers so far in 2025.