The Jaecoo 7 is the best-selling vehicle in the UK in September.
Outstanding result for the UK new car market in the all-important plate-change month of September with sales up 12% year-on-year to 350,536. This is the highest September volume in 9 years: since 2017. The year-to-date tally is now up 10.2% or over 160,000 units to 1,739,271. Encouragingly, private sales beat the market and are up 13.9% to 131,003 and 42.6% share vs. 41.9% last year while fleets are up 9.6% to 190,998 and 54.5% share vs. 55.7% in September 2025. Business sales shoot up 37.3% to 10,372 and 3% share vs. 2.4%. Year-to-date, private sales grow 12.8% to 695,965 and 40% share vs. 39.1% over the same period last year, fleets are up 8% to 1,000,509 and 57.5% share vs. 58.7% a year ago and business sales are up 22.8% to 42,797 and 2.5% share vs. 2.2%
Looking at propulsion type, BEVs soar 36.3% to a record 99,201 sales and 28.3% share vs. 23.3% a year ago, helped by vast model choice, discounts and the government’s Electric Car Grant. HEVs drop -4.3% to 45,839 and 13.1% share vs. 15.3% in September 2025, PHEVs surge 55.5% to 38,308 and 17% share vs. 12.2%, petrol is down -6.7% to 131,864 and 37.6% share vs. 45.2% and diesel grows 11.5% to 12,609 and an unchanged 4% share. Through September, BEVs are up 30.2% to 454,947 and 26.2% share vs. 22.1% over the first 9 months of 2025, HEVs grow 7.9% to 240,255 and 13.8% share vs. 14.1%, PHEVs improve 41.8% to 244,769 and 14.1% share vs. 10.9%, petrol is down -3.8% to 721,617 and 41.5% share vs. 47.5% and diesel skids -7.1% to 77,683 and 4.5% share vs. 5.3%.
In the brands ranking, Volkswagen (+2.6%) sees its share drop to 7.4% vs. 7.9% so far this year but remains in the lead. Massive event in 2nd place: BYD (+78.7%) surges to over 20,000 sales and 5.7% share, smashing its previous records of #6 (December 2025), 15,162 sales (March 2026) and 5.3% share (December 2025). Kia (+1.3%) advances two spots on August to #3 with MG (+23.7%) and Audi (-4.4%) rounding out the Top 5. Tesla (+98.6%) doubles its sales year-on-year to land at #6 with Jaecoo (+132%) breaking its ranking record at #9 for its second ever UK Top 10 finish, also reaching a volume best at over 15,000. Notice also Chery up 660.9% to #18, Omoda up 67.5% to #20, newcomer Geely at #25, Leapmotor up 709.7% to #28, Lepas landing at #37 for its first appearance in the UK charts and Aion up to #38. All in all, Chinese carmakers see their UK sales surge 110% year-on-year to 81,775 and 23.3% share vs. 12.4% in September 2025.
Over in the models charts, the Jaecoo 7 (+66.7%) sports a second ever monthly win after last March (both in plate change months) and advances to #2 year-to-date as a result. The Tesla Model 3 surges to #2 and breaks into the YTD Top 10 at #9. The Ford Puma (-16.3%) can’t benefit from the solid market and falls to #3 for the month, albeit retaining its YTD pole position. The Kia Sportage (-31%) also struggles at #4 while the Tesla Model Y climbs to #5. The Nissan Qashqai (-23.1%) and Vauxhall Corsa (-5.9%) also disappoint just as the VW Golf (+6.8%) and MG HS (+5.2%) both post shy upticks. First Top 10 finish since October 2025 for the Audi A3 (#10). Strikingly, BYD has no models in the Top 10.
Previous month: UK August 2026: Jaecoo now Top 10 brand, places 7 at #2 and 5 at #4
One year ago: UK September 2025: Jaecoo 7 up to #4, BYD Seal U #6, BEVs reach record volume
Full September 2026 Top 55 All brands and Top 10 models below.
UK September 2026 – brands:
| Pos | Brand | Sep-26 | % | /25 | Aug | 2026 | % | /25 | Pos | FY25 |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 25,972 | 7.4% | + 2.6% | 1 | 137,802 | 7.9% | – 2.1% | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | BYD | 20,140 | 5.7% | + 78.7% | 11 | 68,405 | 3.9% | + 92.1% | 11 | 17 |
| 3 | Kia | 18,399 | 5.2% | + 1.3% | 5 | 95,249 | 5.5% | + 2.1% | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | MG | 18,026 | 5.1% | + 23.7% | 3 | 78,930 | 4.5% | + 20.7% | 6 | 10 |
| 5 | Audi | 16,722 | 4.8% | – 4.4% | 7 | 88,626 | 5.1% | + 4.8% | 4 | 5 |
| 6 | Tesla | 15,875 | 4.5% | + 98.6% | 21 | 46,244 | 2.7% | + 32.3% | 19 | 19 |
| 7 | BMW | 15,617 | 4.5% | – 11.5% | 4 | 91,691 | 5.3% | – 5.1% | 3 | 2 |
| 8 | Mercedes | 15,571 | 4.4% | + 9.1% | 6 | 76,867 | 4.4% | + 5.0% | 7 | 9 |
| 9 | Jaecoo | 15,057 | 4.3% | + 132.0% | 10 | 58,648 | 3.4% | + 222.8% | 15 | 23 |
| 10 | Toyota | 13,948 | 4.0% | – 14.2% | 9 | 70,301 | 4.0% | – 1.8% | 10 | 7 |
| 11 | Skoda | 13,741 | 3.9% | + 15.2% | 8 | 71,513 | 4.1% | + 8.0% | 8 | 11 |
| 12 | Volvo | 12,236 | 3.5% | + 5.8% | 22 | 54,343 | 3.1% | + 4.8% | 16 | 14 |
| 13 | Vauxhall | 11,991 | 3.4% | – 1.1% | 12 | 70,491 | 4.1% | + 6.1% | 9 | 13 |
| 14 | Ford | 11,917 | 3.4% | – 27.3% | 2 | 82,967 | 4.8% | – 9.3% | 5 | 3 |
| 15 | Nissan | 11,046 | 3.2% | – 21.0% | 16 | 60,075 | 3.5% | – 16.1% | 13 | 8 |
| 16 | Hyundai | 10,003 | 2.9% | – 31.9% | 15 | 63,812 | 3.7% | – 14.9% | 12 | 6 |
| 17 | Peugeot | 9,804 | 2.8% | – 18.2% | 14 | 59,072 | 3.4% | – 16.4% | 14 | 12 |
| 18 | Chery | 9,793 | 2.8% | + 660.9% | 17 | 33,364 | 1.9% | + 2466.5% | 21 | 34 |
| 19 | Land Rover | 9,004 | 2.6% | + 40.3% | 20 | 49,971 | 2.9% | + 3.6% | 18 | 16 |
| 20 | Omoda | 7,241 | 2.1% | + 67.5% | 19 | 31,621 | 1.8% | + 122.3% | 23 | 27 |
| 21 | Renault | 6,725 | 1.9% | – 29.8% | 13 | 50,931 | 2.9% | + 4.5% | 17 | 15 |
| 22 | Mini | 6,568 | 1.9% | + 17.8% | 18 | 42,913 | 2.5% | + 25.3% | 20 | 18 |
| 23 | Cupra | 5,857 | 1.7% | – 3.4% | 23 | 32,632 | 1.9% | + 6.1% | 22 | 20 |
| 24 | Citroen | 5,825 | 1.7% | + 136.0% | 24 | 25,528 | 1.5% | + 82.9% | 24 | 26 |
| 25 | Geely | 5,155 | 1.5% | new | 27 | 14,400 | 0.8% | new | 29 | 47 |
| 26 | Mazda | 4,417 | 1.3% | – 20.4% | 25 | 22,185 | 1.3% | – 17.5% | 25 | 21 |
| 27 | Honda | 4,149 | 1.2% | – 15.5% | 30 | 17,143 | 1.0% | – 16.4% | 28 | 24 |
| 28 | Leapmotor | 3,943 | 1.1% | + 709.7% | 29 | 13,283 | 0.8% | + 765.3% | 32 | 35 |
| 29 | Dacia | 3,736 | 1.1% | + 7.3% | 26 | 21,781 | 1.3% | – 5.0% | 26 | 22 |
| 30 | Lexus | 3,344 | 1.0% | + 26.0% | 34 | 12,901 | 0.7% | – 2.2% | 33 | 31 |
| 31 | Suzuki | 3,020 | 0.9% | + 2.0% | 28 | 18,861 | 1.1% | + 31.8% | 27 | 29 |
| 32 | Seat | 2,907 | 0.8% | – 23.5% | 31 | 13,362 | 0.8% | – 28.4% | 31 | 25 |
| 33 | Porsche | 2,554 | 0.7% | + 20.5% | 32 | 14,238 | 0.8% | + 4.4% | 30 | 28 |
| 34 | Polestar | 2,219 | 0.6% | – 19.5% | 35 | 12,239 | 0.7% | – 3.1% | 34 | 30 |
| 35 | Jeep | 1,701 | 0.5% | + 12.6% | 33 | 9,052 | 0.5% | – 2.9% | 35 | 32 |
| 36 | Fiat | 1,244 | 0.4% | – 7.9% | 36 | 5,917 | 0.3% | – 27.1% | 36 | 33 |
| 37 | Lepas | 739 | 0.2% | new | – | 739 | 0.0% | new | 47 | – |
| 38 | Aion | 678 | 0.2% | new | 51 | 924 | 0.1% | new | 45 | – |
| 39 | Changan | 659 | 0.2% | + 3368.4% | 38 | 2,750 | 0.2% | + 14373.7% | 37 | 49 |
| 40 | Alfa Romeo | 379 | 0.1% | – 41.6% | 43 | 2,223 | 0.1% | + 0.4% | 39 | 36 |
| 41 | Smart | 342 | 0.1% | – 10.5% | 40 | 1,823 | 0.1% | + 40.3% | 40 | 38 |
| 42 | Xpeng | 331 | 0.1% | + 17.8% | 37 | 1,435 | 0.1% | + 181.9% | 41 | 45 |
| 43 | Alpine | 300 | 0.1% | – 22.5% | 39 | 2,694 | 0.2% | + 193.5% | 38 | 39 |
| 44 | Lotus | 207 | 0.1% | + 4.0% | 41 | 954 | 0.1% | – 13.1% | 44 | n/a |
| 45 | Subaru | 204 | 0.1% | – 40.0% | 45 | 1,237 | 0.1% | – 29.0% | 42 | 37 |
| 46 | Abarth | 178 | 0.1% | + 334.1% | 42 | 565 | 0.0% | + 116.5% | 48 | 50 |
| 47 | KGM | 139 | 0.0% | – 48.3% | 46 | 1,102 | 0.1% | – 14.6% | 43 | 41 |
| 48 | Genesis | 109 | 0.0% | + 18.5% | 44 | 840 | 0.0% | – 16.5% | 46 | 42 |
| 49 | Mitsubishi | 76 | 0.0% | n/a | 48 | 205 | 0.0% | n/a | 52 | – |
| 50 | DS | 57 | 0.0% | + 307.1% | 47 | 242 | 0.0% | – 75.4% | 50 | 43 |
| 51 | Maserati | 42 | 0.0% | – 26.3% | 50 | 347 | 0.0% | + 26.6% | 49 | 48 |
| 52 | Ineos | 38 | 0.0% | + 5.6% | 49 | 206 | 0.0% | – 5.5% | 51 | 51 |
| 53 | Chevrolet | 13 | 0.0% | – 18.8% | 52 | 65 | 0.0% | – 4.4% | 54 | 52 |
| 54 | GWM Ora | 9 | 0.0% | – 95.4% | 53 | 161 | 0.0% | – 61.6% | 53 | 46 |
| 54 | Denza | 4 | 0.0% | new | – | 4 | 0.0% | new | 57 | – |
| 55 | Maxus | 1 | 0.0% | n/a | – | 5 | 0.0% | – 88.4% | 56 | 53 |
| – | Other British | 364 | 0.1% | – 10.1% | – | 2,121 | 0.1% | – 10.7% | – | – |
| – | Other Imports | 200 | 0.1% | + 23.5% | – | 984 | 0.1% | – 27.9% | – | – |
UK September 2026 – models:
| Pos | Model | Sep-26 | % | /25 | Aug | 2026 | % | /25 | Pos | FY25 |
| 1 | Jaecoo 7 | 10,814 | 3.1% | + 66.7% | 2 | 39,385 | 2.3% | + 116.8% | 2 | 13 |
| 2 | Tesla Model 3 | 9,929 | 2.8% | n/a | n/a | 22,704 | 1.3% | n/a | 9 | 20 |
| 3 | Ford Puma | 6,958 | 2.0% | – 16.3% | 1 | 42,926 | 2.5% | + 3.4% | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Kia Sportage | 6,521 | 1.9% | – 31.0% | 5 | 37,085 | 2.1% | – 4.3% | 3 | 2 |
| 5 | Tesla Model Y | 5,946 | 1.7% | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 18 |
| 6 | Nissan Qashqai | 5,554 | 1.6% | – 23.1% | n/a | 33,082 | 1.9% | + 0.9% | 4 | 3 |
| 7 | Vauxhall Corsa | 5,498 | 1.6% | – 5.9% | n/a | 27,390 | 1.6% | – 6.6% | 5 | 4 |
| 8 | VW Golf | 5,496 | 1.6% | + 6.8% | n/a | 26,702 | 1.5% | + 6.1% | 6 | 6 |
| 9 | MG HS | 5,444 | 1.6% | + 5.2% | 3 | 26,653 | 1.5% | + 10.6% | 7 | 8 |
| 10 | Audi A3 | 5,268 | 1.5% | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 16 |
| n/a | Volvo XC40 | 4,748 | 1.4% | – 3.9% | n/a | 23,655 | 1.4% | + 3.1% | 10 | 7 |
| n/a | Mini Cooper | 3,707 | 1.1% | n/a | 7 | 23,724 | 1.4% | n/a | 8 | 12 |
Source: SMMT
