UK's Top-Selling Autos: Ford Puma Remains Dominant in Sales Rankings
The UK's new car market is currently experiencing fluctuations, with uncertainty surrounding government incentives. Despite this, the top 10 best-selling cars in July 2025 have been announced, with the Kia Sportage taking the lead with 4,482 registrations, narrowly surpassing the Ford Puma's 4,409 units.
The full ranking for July is as follows:
- Kia Sportage - 4,482 units
- Ford Puma - 4,409 units
- Nissan Juke - 3,077 units
- Mini Cooper - 2,629 units
- Volkswagen Tiguan - 3,567 units
- Nissan Qashqai - 2,444 units
- Peugeot 2008 - 2,434 units
- Volkswagen T-Roc - 2,258 units
- Volkswagen Golf - 2,090 units
- Audi A3 - 2,080 units
Despite the Kia Sportage's success in July, the Ford Puma maintains a strong annual sales buffer of over 3,000 units, continuing its dominance in the UK market for 2023, 2024, and the first half of 2025. The Puma's popularity is attributed to its petrol hybrid technology and practicality.
Competition for the Puma's dominance comes from the Kia Sportage, which offers a strong warranty, stylish design, and efficient hybrid powertrains. The Nissan Juke and Nissan Qashqai also remain popular family SUVs, while the Mini Cooper showed significant growth, moving up to fourth place in July, indicating a shift in buyer interest towards a broader range of compact SUVs and crossovers.
Volkswagen's Tiguan, T-Roc, and Golf occupy three spots in the top 10, highlighting Volkswagen's continued strength despite overall market contractions in July. The Peugeot 2008 and Audi A3 also hold steady positions, reflecting their appeal in the compact SUV and premium small car segments respectively.
If the Ford Puma maintains its position until the end of 2025, it will mark its second consecutive year as the top-selling model in the UK. It's currently the best-selling car of the year to date, according to data provided by the SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders).
Electric car sales saw a 9.7% year-on-year increase in July, up to 29,825 units. The Kia Sportage, which entered its fifth generation at the end of 2022, offers mild-hybrid, full-hybrid, and plug-in hybrid powertrains.
It's worth noting that the government's newly revised electric vehicle grant has come into effect this month. However, its impact on the sales of the Kia Sportage and other petrol and diesel vehicles remains to be seen.
References: [1] Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) [2] Autocar [3] Car Dealer Magazine
- The Kia Sportage's success in the July 2025 car market, with its strong sales of 4,482 units, highlights a growing interest in lifestyle vehicles like SUVs and crossovers, such as sports cars.
- The Ford Puma's popularity, driven by its petrol hybrid technology and practicality, continues to dominate the UK market in 2023, 2024, and the first half of 2025, despite competition from cars like the Kia Sportage, which boasts stylish design and efficient hybrid powertrains.
