Car market in United Kingdom 2020: top brands and EV share

The brands people choose

Which car brands are biggest in United Kingdom?

Market share shows how much of the new-car market each brand accounts for. The change is measured in percentage points against 2019.

01

Ford

151,804 cars

9.4%

−0.9 pp

02

Volkswagen

147,444 cars

9.1%

+0.3 pp

03

BMW

115,185 cars

7.1%

−0.2 pp

04

Mercedes-Benz

110,324 cars

6.8%

−0.6 pp

05

Audi

107,649 cars

6.6%

+0.6 pp

06

Vauxhall

95,145 cars

5.9%

−1.0 pp

The changing market

Which brands are gaining ground?

The largest gains in market share compared with 2019. Registration growth is shown separately: a brand can gain share even when its volume falls.

Toyota

+1.1 pp

Market share: 5.6%

Registrations: −12.9%

91,317 cars

Tesla

+1.0 pp

Market share: 1.5%

Registrations: +88.4%

24,768 cars

Audi

+0.6 pp

Market share: 6.6%

Registrations: −22.5%

107,649 cars

Percentage points measure a change in share. Percent measures a change in the number of cars.

Electric, hybrid or combustion?

Are all new cars electric?

Understand the powertrains

No. Fully electric cars account for 6.6% of new registrations. The powertrain mix below shows the other types too.

Share of new registrations in United Kingdom, 2020.

Plug-in cars

185,094 new cars

+8.3 pp vs previous year

Non-plug-in cars

1,435,350 new cars

−8.2 pp vs previous year

Plug-in cars can be charged from the grid: fully electric cars and plug-in hybrids. Split by powertrain:

Combustion engine

1,196,042 new cars

−18.5 pp vs previous year

Hybrid (incl. mild hybrids)

239,251 new cars

+10.3 pp vs previous year

Battery electric

107,495 new cars

+5.0 pp vs previous year

Plug-in hybrid

77,599 new cars

+3.3 pp vs previous year

Fuel cell

57 new cars

0.0 pp vs previous year

Fully electric cars and plug-in hybrids are separate categories. Petrol and diesel can also power hybrids; powertrain and fuel are different classifications. Hybrids include mild hybrids, and the line against combustion cars differs between countries, so compare hybrid shares within a country rather than between countries.

A wider perspective

How has the market changed over time?

Registrations per year

United Kingdom

Lighter bars are provisional. Some periods have incomplete coverage, see the table.

View as table

Period	United Kingdom
2010	2,026,329
2011	1,937,314
2012	2,037,122
2013	2,255,233
2014	2,467,648
2015	2,623,265
2016	2,687,083
2017	2,532,790
2018	2,355,955
2019	2,305,200
2020	1,620,444
2021 incomplete	–
2022 incomplete	–
2023 incomplete	–
2024 incomplete	–
2025 provisional incomplete	–

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