UK’s top favourite car

Ford recently announced that its Fiesta model has now overtaken the defunct Escort as the company’s best-selling vehicle of all time.

The Fiesta is also the biggest-selling car in Britain’s history, having sold around 4.3 million units since its introduction in 1976. Here we take a look at the top ten best-selling cars of all time in the UK.

A close second in the list of the UK’s most popular cars ever is the Ford Escort, with around 4.1 million units sold between 1968 and 2002. The Escort was rebranded as the Focus in 1998, but it was still essentially the same car. If you add together the Focus and Escort sales figures, then it easily outstrips Fiesta sales.

Third is the mighty Vauxhall Astra, with total sales of 2.8 million since 1979. The Astra is still going strong to this day.

Fourth in the list is another Ford — this time the Cortina, with nearly 2.6 million sales between 1962 and 1982. The Cortina was the UK’s best-selling car of the 1970s.

Fifth is the Vauxhall Corsa, with around 1.8 million units sold so far. The Corsa has been on the market in the UK since 1982 and continues to sell well.

Sixth in our list of the top-selling cars in the UK ever is the Vauxhall Cavalier, which also has total sales of around 1.8 million units. The Cavalier was sold from 1975 to 1995, when it was replaced by the Vauxhall Vectra.

Seventh is the Volkswagen Golf, which was first sold in Britain back in 1974 and is now on its seventh generation. The Golf has sold just over 1.8 million units in the UK so far, and it will surely overtake all-time sales figures for the Cavalier and Corsa during the next few years.

In eighth position we find the Ford Focus, with total sales of just under 1.8 million. The Focus first appeared in 1998, replacing the legendary Escort.

Ninth place goes to the Rover Group Mini and its predecessors, which have sold just under 1.6 million units.

In tenth place is the Rover Group Metro, with sales of just under 1.5 million units.

As we can see, the British public appear fairly conservative in their car-buying habits, with only four manufacturers represented in the top ten. Ford is responsible for four of the top-selling models, Vauxhall accounts for three models, Rover for two and VW for just the one.

Over the next few years, it is likely that the Mini and Metro will fall out the top ten, being replaced by popular models such as the Vauxhall Vectra, Ford Mondeo and Volkswagen Polo.

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), so far in 2014 the Fiesta, Focus, Corsa, Golf and Astra make up the top five best-selling cars in the UK. The next few positions are taken by the Nissan Qashqai SUV, Audi A3 hatchback, VW Polo, Fiat 500 hatchback and the BMW 3 Series saloon.

There are many more cars on the road now than ever before due to the UK’s expanding population, the proliferation of finance providers and the popularity of car loans. The SMMT reports that the British automobile industry has grown for thirty consecutive months up to August 2014, and September shows no signs of slowing down. New car registrations are increasing at a rate of just over 10% year on year.

Generally speaking, secured loans such as the ones on offer from Evolution Money are the cheapest way to borrow the money needed for a new car unless you have the cash to buy it outright. And who does these days? Alternatively, you can go to a leasing company and get a new car for a simple monthly payment with nothing to pay back at the end.

The total sales figures quoted are from the middle of 2014.