Britain’s most popular new cars revealed

The Ford Fiesta has cemented its reputation as the UK’s favourite car, taking the No 1 spot for the 10th consecutive year.

However, final year figures for 2018 released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reveal that total registrations were down 6.8% to 2.37 million cars, reflecting 12 months of turbulence.

Sales of diesels plummeted by 30%, while petrol vehicles were up 8.7 per cent and alternatively fuelled vehicles (including pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids) increased by 20.9%.

However, AFVs still only account for 2.5% of the total market in the UK, while just 0.7 per cent of the overall market is represented by pure EVs.

Top 10 new cars 2018

1. Ford Fiesta, 95,892 (registrations)
2. VW Golf, 64,829
3. Vauxhall Corsa, 52,915
4. Nissan Qashqai, 50,546
5. Ford Focus, 50,492
6. Volkswagen Polo, 45,149
7. MINI Hatch, 44,904
8. Mercedes-Benz A-Class, 43,527
9. Ford Kuga, 40,398
10. Kia Sportage, 35,367