2012 Year End Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The United Kingdom

The Ford Fiesta once again ended a calendar year as the best-selling car in the United Kingdom. In 2012, not only did the Fiesta post a 14% year-over-year increase in UK registrations, it overcame last year's decline to record a 6% improvement compared to 2010.

Qashqai Sales Jumped 16% After
Rising 1% In 2011 And 51% In 2010

In second spot, the Vauxhall Corsa posted the second-best year-over-year increase among the ten most popular cars in the United Kingdom. The Ford Focus fell from second spot in last year's rankings to third this year; Vauxhall's Astra moved up from fifth to fourth; and the Volkswagen Golf did the opposite. 

Nissan's 16% jump in Qashqai registrations was best of the bunch. The Qashqai, assembled in the north of England by workers in Sunderland, accounts for 43% of all Nissans sold in the UK. 

After trailing much of the year, the BMW brand took over from Audi as the best-selling premium brand in the United Kingdom by outselling Audi by 5389 units in December 2012. The 3-Series and 1-Series obviously played the largest roles in that event. The two small BMWs are responsible for six out of every ten BMW registrations in the UK.

These were the ten most frequently registered cars in the United Kingdom in the year 2012. These ten best-selling cars combined to account for 30% of the new vehicles sold in 2012 in the United Kingdom.

Rank	Best-Selling Car	2012	2011	% Change
#1	Ford Fiesta	109,265	96,112	+ 13.7%
#2	Vauxhall Corsa	89,434	77,751	+ 15.0%
#3	Ford Focus	83,115	81,832	+ 1.6%
#4	Vauxhall Astra	63,023	62,575	+ 0.7%
#5	Volkswagen Golf	62,021	63,368	- 2.1%
#6	Nissan Qashqai	45,675	39,406	+ 15.9%
#7	BMW 3-Series	44,521	42,471	+ 4.8%
#8	Volkswagen Polo	41,901	45,992	- 8.9%
#9	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	37,261	n/a	n/a
#10	BMW 1-Series	34,488	n/a	n/a

Source: MTI & SMMT

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - 2011 Year End
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - 2010 Year End

Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - December 2012
UK Auto Sales Brand Rankings - 2012 Year End

Top 25 Best-Selling Cars In America - 2012 Year End

2013's The Good 12 - Mercedes-Benz E350 4Matic Wagon - $50,000-$60,000

MERCEDES-BENZ E350 4MATIC WAGON

Wagons are a rare thing in North America these days. Mercedes-Benz's E-Class is basically without rivals. The BMW 5-Series GT isn't a wagon, and it's ridiculously ugly. The Cadillac CTS and CTS-V wagon won't continue much longer. Audi no longer sells the A6 Avant on this side of the Atlantic. The Acura TSX Sport Wagon? It's not very German, it is very front-wheel-drive, and it is not very powerful.

The Mercedes-Benz E350 4Matic Wagon is German, features all-weather all-wheel-drive, and is definitely powerful. It also looks fantastic in a legitimately blue-blooded, aristocratic sort of way, all the more so in the facelifted 2014 version. The E350 wagon is elegant. Call it classy, sophisticated, even dapper. 

Fortunately, it's not ostentatious like Caddy's CTS-V or gaudy like a Porsche Panamera, or meretricious like a Mini Countryman.

The E350 wagon is a traditional car in a crossover world. The vast majority of buyers will direct themselves toward Mercedes-Benz's own ML350. The E350 4Matic Wagon requires buyers to take a stand, and with no financial benefits over the ML, I can see why. 

Nevertheless, a big-wheeled bruiser of a wagon says something about your car-buying intelligence that no humdrum SUV ever will.

-----

Engine: 302 horsepower; 273 lb-ft of torque from a 3.5L V6

Base USD/CAD Price: $57,700 / $70,400

City Fuel Economy: 19 miles per gallon

It's Not Perfect: Oh wait, it is perfect. Except for the fact that somebody else is driving the 516-horsepower E63 AMG Wagon, a car that makes the E350 4Matic seem a bit weak-kneed. And, if we're nitpicking, the front end is a bit fussy and the interior's a bit complicated. The upcoming facelift improves the front end issue.

Sales Stats: Aided by multiple bodystyles - sedan, wagon, coupe, and convertible - the E-Class is substantially more popular than the BMW 5-Series, Audi A6, Lexus GS, and every other premium brand car in its price range.

Viable Alternatives: While you can, the Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon is a unique proposition.

The Good 12

Kia Rio 5-Door - Fiat 500 Turbo - Volkswagen Golf GTI
Jeep Wrangler Unlimited - Dodge Ram - BMW 328i
Ford F-150 SVT Raptor - Chevrolet Suburban -
Mercedes-Benz E350 4Matic Wagon - Porsche Boxster S - 
Porsche Cayenne S - Land Rover Range Rover

The Bad 8

Chevrolet Spark - Chrysler 200 Convertible -
Ford Escape Titanium AWD - Honda Crosstour - 
Lincoln MKS - Nissan Versa Sedan -
Toyota Corolla CE - Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid

The Good 12 Rules

November 2012 Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The United Kingdom

Clear and bright like a winter's day in Dover Denver, Colorado, is the obvious way in which the United Kingdom's new vehicle market bears no resemblance to the North American market. The Ford Fiesta is the UK's best-selling car this year, as it was last year, but in the United States, the Fiesta is the 72nd-best-selling vehicle.

Need more evidence? Consider the fact that three of the nameplates on this list of the UK's 10 best-selling cars in November aren't even available in North America. 

Ford UK also sells a three-door Fiesta but doesn't sell the ugly Fiesta sedan. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class is still available as a wagon, or rather an estate, in the United Kingdom. 

All of these cars can (and regularly are) purchased with diesel powerplants. And of the seven nameplates on this list which are on sale in North America, only one is sold here with a diesel engine: the Volkswagen Golf.

Monthly & Yearly North American Ford Fiesta Sales Figures

Of course, the Golf, sales of which rose 5% to 5165 units in November, can be had in the UK with a 168-horsepower diesel. In North America, diesel bhp tops out at 140. The Golf is America's 90th-best-selling vehicle, trailing the Mini, Fiat 500, Dodge Challenger, BMW X5, and Toyota Venza. 

This list presents the 10 most popular cars in the United Kingdom from November 2012. Just as many of these cars posted huge year-over-year gains last month, the SMMT says the UK's overall market posted a 11.3% increase in November and is up 5.4% to 1.9 million sales through the first eleven months of 2012.

Rank	Best-Selling Car	November 2012	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
#1	Ford Focus	7495	+ 52.6%	77,850	+ 0.08%
#2	Ford Fiesta	7483	+ 20.8%	104,288	+ 15.0%
#3	Vauxhall Corsa	6164	+ 17.8%	84,924	+ 17.1%
#4	Volkswagen Golf	5165	+ 4.9%	59,465	+ 2.2%
#5	Vauxhall Astra	5032	+ 11.4%	57,911	+ 0.3%
#6	Nissan Qashqai	3403	+ 3.9%	42,835	+ 16.3%
#7	BMW 3-Series	3238	+ 11.7%	41,340	+ 2.8%
#8	BMW 1-Series	3135	n/a	31,292	n/a
#9	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	2901	+ 14.2%	35,328	n/a
#10	Mini	2787	n/a	n/a	n/a

Source: Manufacturers, MTI & SMMT
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales 
* Mini refers to non-Countryman Minis. Mini UK sold 1637 Countrymans in November.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In America - December 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - October 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - November 2011
UK Auto Sales By Brand - November 2012
America's 20 Best-Selling Cars - November 2012

October 2012 Top 10 Worst-Selling Vehicles In America

It's not hard to look at these lists of America's worst-selling vehicles and find perfectly worthy and unsurprising examples. 

The Suzuki Equator doesn't sell well because it's a Suzuki, because Suzuki doesn't try to sell Equators, and because you could just buy the real Equator, which is a Nissan Frontier. Again, the Mitsubishi i MiEV doesn't sell well because it's a Mitsubishi, because it is all-electric and thus has the range of a well-trained Labrador Retriever, and because it looks like a crazy concept from a counterculture Japanese auto show.

But then there are cars which are simply punished by numbers. The current Porsche Cayman, for example, is no longer current. Cars.com says Porsche only has 17 Caymans in stock in the United States. (Compare that to Porsche's 559 units of Boxster inventory.) The Land Rover Range Rover is about to be replaced and, year-to-date, isn't selling that badly for an aging, soon-to-be-replaced SUV. Mercedes-Benz's $189,600-$198,400 SLS AMG actually sold significantly more often this October than last but, rather obviously, is not going to sell often at that price point.

If Ferrari and Lamborghini rivals suffered from a proper sales release you'd see they don't sell often, either. And unlike the identical Scion FR-S, the Subaru BRZ unfortunately isn't sold in more heavily-trafficked Toyota showrooms and thus doesn't sell as frequently. But does that mean Subaru USA has been disappointed with the BRZ's 3120 sales in the last six months? Not at all.

Every Vehicle, All 265, Ranked By U.S. October YTD Sales

As will always be the case in the future, historic brand and corporate totals (monthly and yearly going back to 2002) are now available through the dropdown menu at GCBC's Sales Stats page, along with results for more than 260 currently sold vehicles. That's where you'll find out that Mercedes-Benz sold 13,717 SL-Class roadsters in 2002, when Americans bought millions more cars each year. Chevrolet Corvette volume won't be much stronger than that this year, a year in which M-B might not sell 5000 SLs and SLS AMGs combined.

Below you'll find America's worst-selling vehicles ranked three different ways. Find it in yourself not to be too negative. And if you just can't help it, check out the best sellers in order to get some positivity into your life.

Rank	Worst-Selling Car  By Percentage Decline	% Change	October 2012	October 2011
#1	Porsche Cayman	- 96.7%	4	122
#2	Toyota Yaris	- 62.0%	2579	6792
#3	Mazda 6	- 55.9%	1515	3438
#4	Volvo S80	- 53.3%	163	349
#5	Land Rover Range Rover	- 49.3%	403	795
#6	Honda Insight	- 49.0%	251	492
#7	Infiniti EX	- 47.3%	247	492
#8	Acura TSX	- 47.0%	1577	2977
#9	Mercedes-Benz CL-Class	- 46.5%	54	101
#10	Jaguar XF	- 45.1%	278	506

Rank	Worst-Selling Car  By Volume	October 2012	October 2011	% Change
#1	Suzuki Equator	135	203	- 33.5%
#2	Subaru Tribeca	184	266	- 30.8%
#3	Honda CR-Z	244	289	- 15.6%
#4	Honda Insight	251	492	- 49.0%
#5	Suzuki Kizashi	310	480	- 35.4%
#6	Volkswagen Eos	331	564	- 41.3%
#7	Nissan 370Z	383	442	- 13.3%
#8	Subaru BRZ	402	-----	-----
#9	Mazda MX-5 Miata	461	354	+ 20.2%
#10	Nissan Cube	475	198	+ 140%

Rank	Worst-Selling Car  By Volume (All Vehicles)	October 2012	October 2011	% Change
#1	Porsche Cayman	4	122	- 96.7%
#2	Acura RL	21	22	- 4.5%
#3	Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG	28	13	+ 115%
#4	Mitsubishi i MiEV	30	-----	-----
#5	Audi R8	47	69	- 31.9%
#6	Mercedes-Benz CL-Class	54	101	- 46.5%
#7	Nissan GT-R	86	101	- 14.9%
#8	Audi TT	129	194	- 33.5%
#9	Suzuki Equator	135	203	- 33.5%
#10	Mercedes-Benz G-Class	160	80	+ 100%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC 
Vehicle must have been on sale throughout October, must not have been officially cancelled by its manufacturer, and must have been showcased on manufacturer's website in October. No longer deemed eligible: Chevrolet's Caprice PPV, Lexus LFA, Honda FCX.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Worst-Selling Vehicles In America - November 2012
Top 10 Worst-Selling Cars In America - September 2012
Top 10 Worst-Selling Cars In America - October 2011
Top 30 Best-Selling Vehicles In America - October 2012

September 2012 Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The United Kingdom

The United Kingdom's auto industry produced collective gains of 8.2%, a surprisingly strong month in what's always a high-volume time of year for UK new car sales. Both of the UK's two best-selling cars posted year-over-year growth much better than the industry's overall average. 

Through the first three quarters of 2012, UK new vehicle sales are 4.3% stronger than they were in the first three quarters of 2011. Ford Fiesta sales jumped 15% over last year's three-month total of 77,198 units. Year-over-year, sales of the Vauxhall Corsa, the Fiesta's key rival, are up 19%, equal to 11,516 extra sales for GM's British underling. 

Ford Focus sales, meanwhile, have tumbled 5% this year. A year ago, the Focus was 6713 sales ahead of the Corsa. This year the Focus has fallen out of second place and is nearly 8000 sales behind the Corsa.

Both Mercedes-Benz's C-Class and BMW's 3-Series cracked the top seven in September UK car sales standings. The C-Class also outsold the 3er in the U.S. last month. Peugeot made its first appearance since March with the 207's successor, the aptly named 208. The 207 ranked ninth in March and tenth in January.

Brand-by-brand rankings are coming up shortly. Key links to other editions of this list are clickable at the bottom of this post.

Rank	Best-Selling Car	September 2012	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
#1	Ford Fiesta	18,651	+ 19.2%	88,747	+ 15.0%
#2	Vauxhall Corsa	17,089	+ 19.2%	72,475	+ 18.9%
#3	Ford Focus	13,837	- 6.2%	64,521	- 4.7%
#4	Vauxhall Astra	9864	- 5.7%	47,125	- 3.9%
#5	Volkswagen Golf	9270	- 12.8%	50,142	+ 0.3%
#6	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	7948	n/a	29,772	n/a
#7	BMW 3-Series	7726	+ 21.6%	34,340	+ 2.1%
#8	Nissan Qashqai	7471	+ 23.1%	35,865	+ 16.6%
#9	Volkswagen Polo	7291	- 15.3%	33,987	- 7.3%
#10	Peugeot 208	6741	n/a	n/a	n/a

Source: Manufacturers, MTI & SMMT
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The United Kingdom - October 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - August 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - September 2011
United Kingdom Auto Sales By Brand - September 2012
Top 20 Best-Selling Cars In America - September 2012

August 2012 Commercial Van Sales In America

Ford's Next Transit Is Perfect For Installing Solar
Panels On The Roof Of A Spectacular Chalet

24,641 cargo vans - some of which were inevitably turned into RVs or airport hotel passenger transporters - were sold to American buyers in August 2012. 

Through eight months, sales of these seven vans have risen 19.1%. 

Together they've accounted for 2.1% of the America's overall new vehicle market in 2012, a market which has grown 14.7% year-over-year. In the first eight months of 2011 these vans were responsible for 2.0% of America's new vehicle market.

As the accompanying chart makes very clear, the Ford E-Series vans are America's favourites, although their share of the market is in decline. At this time last year, the Ford E-Series (not to be confused with the Mercedes-Benz E-Class) accounted for 47.2% of the commercial vans sold in the United States. That number has fallen to 41.9% in 2012. 

Commercial Van Sales Chart
Click Chart For Larger View

FoMoCo doesn't want this trend to continue, so the Blue Oval is about to start operating with Mercedes-Benz-like tendencies. Instead of offering a cargo van with an antiquated chassis to American customers, Ford will soon begin selling Europe's full-size Transit on this side of the Atlantic. The new version is pictured above. It's Sprinteresque.

As always, historical monthly and yearly sales figures for all these vans can be found by selecting a vehicle through the first dropdown menu at GCBC's Sales Stats home. There's way more data that can be accessed that way than you can possibly have interest in. You could also just click the model name below for monthly sales which go back as far as January 2010 and yearly sales which stretch back to 2002.

Van	August 2012	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
Chevrolet Express	6861	+ 17.9%	54,005	+ 22.4%
Ford E-Series	9151	+ 0.1%	84,990	+ 5.6%
Ford Transit Connect	3324	+ 21.6%	22,905	+ 11.8%
GMC Savana	1545	+ 72.6%	16,254	+ 32.7%
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter	2129	+ 15.3%	13,608	+ 27.5%
Nissan NV	783	+ 19.4%	6319	+ 160%
Ram Cargo Van	848	+ 84,700%	4846	+ 484,500%

Source: Manufacturers & ANDC

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Commercial Van Sales In America - September 2012
U.S. Commercial Van Sales - July 2012
All 262 Vehicles Ranked By August 2012 YTD Sales
U.S. Auto Sales By Brand - August 2012
Minivan & Truck Sales In America - August 2012

July 2012 Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The United Kingdom

The ten best-selling cars in the United Kingdom in July 2012 were, for the most part, the same cars which end every month as the UK's best-selling cars. The exceptions? Audi's A3 and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. 

Through the first seven months of 2012, the best-selling premium brand car in the United Kingdom is still the BMW 3-Series, 4735 sales ahead of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, July's seventh-ranked car. The 3-Series didn't crack the top ten in July.

Overall, the best-selling car in the UK was the Ford Fiesta. As Fiesta sales shot up 13% (in a market which rose 9%), Focus sales dropped 24%. That was the second worst decline among cars in the top 10. Year-to-date, the Fiesta is 14,147 sales ahead of its closest rival, the similarly-sized and similarly-priced Vauxhall Corsa. Corsa sales are up 21% this year.

America's 20 best-selling cars in July also featured the Focus - America's tenth-best-selling car - but none of the other cars on this list appeared on that U.S. list. Brands competing for UK customers have already been ranked by total July volume. Below, take a look at the UK's ten most popular auto nameplates.

Rank	Best-Selling Car	July 2012	% Change	Year To Date	YTD % Change
#1	Ford Fiesta	7533	+ 12.5%	67,103	+ 15.0%
#2	Vauxhall Corsa	5809	+ 13.4%	52,956	+ 21.1%
#3	Vauxhall Astra	5211	+ 27.6%	35,694	- 3.4%
#4	Ford Focus	4742	- 23.9%	48,595	- 3.0%
#5	Volkswagen Golf	4367	+ 2.2%	38,939	+ 4.1%
#6	Nissan Qashqai	3721	+ 9.7%	27,156	+ 16.1%
#7	Mercedes-Benz C-Class	3163	n/a	20,780	n/a
#8	Volkswagen Polo	2863	- 22.3%	25,212	- 5.2%
#9	Audi A3	2711	n/a	n/a	n/a
#10	Vauxhall Insignia	2591	- 35.8%	20,481	- 31.7%

Source: Manufacturers, MTI & SMMT
Red font indicates year-over-year declining sales

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - August 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - June 2012
Top 10 Best-Selling Cars In The UK - July 2011
UK Auto Sales By Brand - July 2012