Volkswagen has finished 2021 as the best-selling car brand in the UK for the first time ever, while Tesla’s Model 3 was the country’s second most popular new car overall behind the Vauxhall (Opel) Corsa.
Last year, the German car manufacturer sold 147,826 vehicles across the UK, representing 8.97 per cent of the country’s total new car market where 1,647,181 new vehicles were sold. Volkswagen was quite comfortably the best-seller too, eclipsing Audi as the second best-selling brand with 117,953 vehicles, BMW with 116,577 vehicles, Ford with 116,305, and Toyota with 100,895.
Read Also: VW Investing Billions In EVs, Confirms Project Trinity And Audi Q8 E-Tron Coming In 2026
“What a way to start the new year – as the UK’s biggest-selling car brand across 2021,” director of Volkswagen UK Ron McLeod said. “It’s a great achievement from all at Volkswagen UK, including from our fantastic network partners, as well as a clear reflection and ringing endorsement of the strength of our range offering. With a growing family of award-winning ID. models bolstering an already impressive range of class-leading products, it is an incredibly exciting time to be part of the UK’s most popular car brand.”
Interestingly, VW’s sales actually fell by 0.35 percent from 2020 when it sold 148,338 vehicles but some of its rivals experienced much more significant drops. For example, Ford’s sales plummeted by 23.87 percent down from the 152,777 vehicles it shifted in 2020.
Best selling models
Source SMMT
In terms of best-selling cars in the UK throughout 2021, the crown goes to the Vauxhall Corsa with 40,914 sales, edging out the Tesla Model 3 with 34,783 units. Unsurprisingly, the Model 3 was easily the best-selling EV in the UK, with second place occupied by the Kia e-Niro with 12,271 sales followed by the Volkswagen ID.3 with 11,032 units sold.
