​Best-selling cars 2024: the UK’s top 10 most popular models

Seemingly in the blink of an eye, 2024 is nearing its end, and some very familiar names are cementing their positions towards the top of the UK’s best-selling cars charts. It’s bad news for carmakers generally, however, as the UK’s new car market experienced its second consecutive month of decline in October. With a total of 144,288 new registrations, this marked a 6 per cent year-on-year drop compared to 2023, and this reduction applied to both private and fleet purchases.

Petrol remains the most popular type of fuel for new car buyers, with 72,681 cars registered, accounting for 50.1 per cent of the market last month. However, Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) experienced a year-on-year growth spurt of 24.5 per cent, with 29,802 car registrations taking an overall 20.1 per market share. Electric cars were the only sector showing year-on-year growth with petrol cars, hybrids, plug-in hybrids and diesels all experiencing varying rates of decline.

Anything can still happen in the best-selling car stakes with two months still to go, but Ford might just be thinking about placing the champagne order as it managed to shift another 3,521 Ford Pumas in October. Kia did manage to beat this long-running rival, though, as an additional 4,533 Sportages hit the road. The battle for the top spot is as fierce as ever, but the Ford Puma is sitting firmly at the top of the year-to-date leaderboard as it stands.

While plenty of buyers adore their SUVs, there’s still a place for the supermini in UK drivers’ hearts, too, as the MINI Cooper, Toyota Yaris and Peugeot 208 all ranked in last month’s top 10 best-sellers. With 2025 creeping up on manufacturers, it’s still all to play for, so here are the UK’s best-selling cars in 2024 so far.

The UK’s best-selling cars 2024

1. Ford Puma
2. Kia Sportage
3. Nissan Qashqai
4. Nissan Juke
5. Volkswagen Golf
6. Hyundai Tucson
7. Audi A3
8. Volkswagen Polo
9. MG HS
10. Volvo XC40

1. Ford Puma - 42,465

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The Ford Puma was the nation’s best-selling car in 2023, and its popularity is showing very few signs of slowing down late into 2024. The facelifted model has now arrived, and buyers are clearly still being wooed by this Fiesta-based small SUV. Ford has another potential ace up its sleeve, too, as the fully-electric Ford Puma Gen-e’s arrival is imminent.

2. Kia Sportage - 42,115

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The fifth-generation Kia Sportage has been a regular sight on this list since it launched in 2021, and it seems that it’s only increasing in popularity. With its distinctive styling, technology that’s bang up-to-date and overall quality feel, the latest Sportage is worlds apart from its predecessors. In fact, we think the Kia Sportage is one of the best mid-size SUVs to buy right now.

3. Nissan Qashqai - 35,721

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The Nissan Qashqai was 2022’s best-seller, and it’s clear that it’s still a firm favourite today. With the freshly-facelifted model now on our roads, it would appear that its still striking all the right chords with buyers. An all-electric variant is also due to arrive very soon and this could bring-in even more customers if the price is right.

4. Nissan Juke - 30,548

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Much like the larger Nissan Qashqai, the Nissan Juke enjoys a pretty constant stream of sales. This funky little SUV is undoubtedly one of the more distinctive models in this area of the market. A mid-life facelift gave the Juke a new lease of life, but it’s still struggling to top the Ford Puma when it comes down to outright appeal.

5. Volkswagen Golf - 29,427

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The Mk8 Volkswagen Golf suffered its fair share of criticism, with VW customers being deterred by oversights such as an infuriating lack of physical controls and backlighting. However, the brand has managed to right many of its wrongs with the updated Mk8.5 model, and these corrections appear to be improving the Golf’s reputation at long last.

6. Hyundai Tucson - 28,115

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The Hyundai Tucson is a four-time Mid-size SUV of the Year award winner at the Auto Express New Car Awards and it also appears to be impressing plenty of buyers, too. The Tucson offers styling and tech that wouldn’t be out of place on high-end models, along with plenty of practicality, and a mid-life refresh has helped to keep it up to speed with swathes of new rivals, too.

7. Audi A3 - 26,830

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For the time being, the Audi A3 has managed to see-off its arch-nemesis, the BMW 1 Series. With plenty of luxury and tech for a car of its size, the compact A3 is well suited to life as a family car as well as being a comfy motorway commuter. UK buyers are still fans of the big German brands, but it would appear that their smaller models are increasingly outshining the traditional executive saloons.

8. Volkswagen Polo - 25,817

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Within a sea of SUVs and larger hatchbacks, the Volkswagen Polo is leading the way for the supermini. VW’s smallest model is nimble enough for city streets, but it still offers a level of refinement which gives it a somewhat premium feel. There’s a decent amount of space inside, too, so it’s capable of doubling up as a compact family car. For those who desire a bit more performance zest, there’s also the option of the Polo GTI.

9. MG HS - 25,414

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After a brief stint as the UK’s best-selling car at the start of the year, the MG HS is still doing its part to bring the iconic octagonal badge back into the mainstream. The second generation of this budget-conscious family SUV has now arrived with more tech and a brand new look, but it still offers that crucial competitive starting price. 

10. Volvo XC40 - 24,621

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The Volvo XC40 is one of the Swedish brand’s older models, and it isn’t exactly cheap to buy. However, this luxurious and stylish small SUV clearly offers enough to make it worth the cost in its buyers’ eyes. While the XC40 was originally available with the option of electric power (known as the XC40 Recharge), this model has now evolved into the Volvo EX40, so only time will tell whether combustion or electric power will take the lion’s share of sales in future.

Sales vs registrations: inside the numbers

There’s an important distinction to be made where the UK’s monthly and annual car sales numbers are concerned. Namely, that they don’t actually count the number of cars sold in the sense that many people might imagine. The numbers provided by the SMMT are for car ‘registrations’ rather than being sales figures.

When customers buy a new car it is registered before it can be driven on the road but cars are also registered by manufacturers and dealers before they have a customer to go to. This practice of processing pre-registered cars is done for various reasons but often the goal is to move stock through the supply chain, avoiding bottlenecks or to hit targets. It means that a significant proportion of the cars in the ‘sales’ figures could be pre-registered and estimates range from between 10 and 20 per cent.

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