Audi ends the month just 379 units below Volkswagen, with the A3 hitting a ranking record.
It’s a 9th consecutive month of year-on-year gains for the UK market in April at +11.6% to 132,990 sales. We are still 17.4% off the 161,064 units of pre-pandemic April 2019. So far this year, volumes are up 16.9% to 627,250 units. Disappointingly, private sales recede -5.5% for the month to 61,342 and 46.1% share vs. 54.5% a year ago whereas fleet sales surge 33.1% to 68,537 and 51.5% share vs. 43.2% in April 2022. Small business sales are up 13.3% to 3,111. Year-to-date, private sales slip into negative at -0.9% to 289,595 and 46.2% share vs. 54.5% over the same period last year, while fleet sales gain 39% to 321,817 and 51.3% share vs. 43.1% during the first four months of 2022. Business sales are up 23.7% to 15,838.
As far as alimentation is going, for the month petrol sales edge up 4.1% to 56,885 units and 42.8% share vs. 45.8% in April 2022, diesel sinks -13.4% to 5,825 and 4.4% share vs. 5.6%, mild hybrids (MHEV) 26,137 gain 6.6% to 26,137 and 19.6% share vs. 20.6% last year, BEV soar 59.1% to 20,522 and 15.4% share vs. 10.8% a year ago, HEV are up 7.7% to 15,026 and 11.3% share vs. 11.7% and PHEV surge 33.3% to 8,595 and 6.5% share vs. 5.4%. Year-to-date, petrol slightly trails the market at +15.1% to 267,444 and 42.6% share vs. 43.3% over the same period in 2022, diesel is off -16.2% to 25,477 and 4.1% share vs. 5.7%, MHEV gain 18% to 116,327 and 18.5% share vs. 18.4% last year, BEV are up 25.6% to 96,755 and 15.4% share vs. 14.4% a year ago, HEV are up 30.3% to 80,887 and 12.9% share vs. 11.6% and PHEV lift 11.5% to 40,360 and 6.4% share vs. 6.7%.
Source: SMMT
In the brands ranking, as it as been the case in most of Europe so far, Volkswagen (+60.7%) bounces back up from weak year-ago volumes to lead the charts with 8.8% share. Only 379 units below is Audi (+15.4%) at 8.6% share which is its highest level since the 9.8% it reached in August 2019. Ford (+2.3%) is weak and relegated to third place above Kia (+4.6%) also trailing the market. Vauxhall (+29.8%) shows unusual strength and climbs 6 spots on March to #5. Only Skoda (+37.7%) beats the market in the remainder of the Top 10, with BMW (-9.2%), Hyundai (+0.8%) and to a lesser extent Toyota (+7.1%) and Peugeot (+10.7%) all underperforming. MG (+85.5%) scores the largest year-on-year uptick in the Top 20 but drops two ranks on las month to #12. Tesla (+1713%!), Polestar (+189.2%), DS (+107.3%), Cupra (+101.1%), Porsche (+74.7%) and Dacia (+36.1%) also shine further down.
Model-wise, the Ford Puma (+7.6%) signs a second overall monthly win (first one was in August 2021) despite falling short of the market growth. Only 2.7% share is enough to propel the nameplate to #1, an indication that the UK is now among the most fragmented in the world. The Puma climbs from #6 to #3 year-to-date as a result. The Vauxhall Corsa (+6.7%) is up five spots on April 2022 to #2 and snaps the YTD pole position in the process whereas it ranked #3 over Q1. The Kia Sportage (+27.7%) brilliantly rounds out the podium, its highest ranking since dominating the charts in January 2022. The Hyundai Tucson (+30.5%) follows at #4 while the Audi A3 (+16.3%) closes the Top 5 at #5, equalling its ranking record also reached in April 2014 and October 2016. The Nissan Qashqai (-33.3%) freefalls at #6 and loses the #1 YTD ranking just as the MG ZS scores a third ever Top 10 finish after November 2021 and January 2023.
Previous month: UK March 2023: Tesla Model Y #1, Nissan (+66.7%) places Qashqai and Juke atop YTD charts, market up 18.2%
One year ago: UK April 2022: Nissan Qashqai signs 2nd ever win in market off -15.8%
Full April 2023 Top 45 All brands and Top 10 models below.
UK April 2023 – brands:
| Pos | Brand | Apr-23 | % | /22 | Mar | 2023 | % | /22 | Pos | FY22 |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 11,758 | 8.8% | 60.7% | 1 | 52,749 | 8.4% | 56.4% | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Audi | 11,379 | 8.6% | 15.4% | 5 | 44,077 | 7.0% | 18.9% | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | Ford | 10,291 | 7.7% | 2.3% | 2 | 46,714 | 7.4% | 17.4% | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | Kia | 7,935 | 6.0% | 4.6% | 3 | 40,190 | 6.4% | 1.2% | 4 | 6 |
| 5 | Vauxhall | 7,845 | 5.9% | 29.8% | 11 | 30,699 | 4.9% | 2.5% | 8 | 7 |
| 6 | BMW | 6,804 | 5.1% | -9.2% | 8 | 32,650 | 5.2% | -7.8% | 6 | 4 |
| 7 | Hyundai | 6,569 | 4.9% | 0.8% | 9 | 30,656 | 4.9% | 16.8% | 9 | 9 |
| 8 | Toyota | 6,531 | 4.9% | 7.1% | 4 | 38,279 | 6.1% | 12.9% | 5 | 5 |
| 9 | Peugeot | 5,525 | 4.2% | 10.7% | 14 | 20,531 | 3.3% | -4.6% | 13 | 12 |
| 10 | Skoda | 5,272 | 4.0% | 37.7% | 16 | 22,280 | 3.6% | 54.9% | 12 | 14 |
| 11 | Mercedes | 5,118 | 3.8% | -21.8% | 7 | 28,801 | 4.6% | -8.4% | 10 | 8 |
| 12 | MG | 5,034 | 3.8% | 85.5% | 10 | 25,713 | 4.1% | 55.3% | 11 | 13 |
| 13 | Nissan | 4,907 | 3.7% | -15.0% | 6 | 30,857 | 4.9% | 41.5% | 7 | 10 |
| 14 | Land Rover | 4,030 | 3.0% | -10.9% | 12 | 19,833 | 3.2% | 31.1% | 14 | 16 |
| 15 | Volvo | 3,711 | 2.8% | 23.5% | 17 | 15,626 | 2.5% | 10.3% | 15 | 17 |
| 16 | Mini | 3,558 | 2.7% | -11.0% | 15 | 15,605 | 2.5% | 3.4% | 16 | 15 |
| 17 | Dacia | 2,933 | 2.2% | 36.1% | 23 | 10,510 | 1.7% | 40.1% | 23 | 20 |
| 18 | Renault | 2,335 | 1.8% | -0.4% | 24 | 10,736 | 1.7% | -1.9% | 21 | 18 |
| 19 | Honda | 2,319 | 1.7% | -18.9% | 21 | 10,593 | 1.7% | 7.8% | 22 | 22 |
| 20 | Mazda | 2,237 | 1.7% | -0.8% | 19 | 10,942 | 1.7% | 22.0% | 20 | 21 |
| 21 | Citroen | 2,236 | 1.7% | -8.8% | 18 | 11,791 | 1.9% | 18.2% | 18 | 19 |
| 22 | Cupra | 1,931 | 1.5% | 101.1% | 27 | 7,198 | 1.1% | 152.1% | 27 | 27 |
| 23 | Porsche | 1,876 | 1.4% | 74.7% | 25 | 7,930 | 1.3% | 48.1% | 25 | 25 |
| 24 | Seat | 1,867 | 1.4% | -2.6% | 20 | 11,645 | 1.9% | 33.2% | 19 | 23 |
| 25 | Tesla | 1,813 | 1.4% | 1713.0% | 13 | 15,168 | 2.4% | -3.1% | 17 | 11 |
| 26 | Suzuki | 1,393 | 1.0% | 0.7% | 22 | 8,294 | 1.3% | 22.7% | 24 | 26 |
| 27 | Fiat | 1,297 | 1.0% | -27.2% | 26 | 7,240 | 1.2% | -7.5% | 26 | 24 |
| 28 | Polestar | 1,183 | 0.9% | 189.2% | 29 | 4,705 | 0.8% | 154.7% | 28 | 30 |
| 29 | Lexus | 886 | 0.7% | 72.4% | 30 | 3,445 | 0.5% | -5.7% | 30 | 29 |
| 30 | Jaguar | 692 | 0.5% | -38.2% | 28 | 3,970 | 0.6% | -10.4% | 29 | 28 |
| 31 | DS | 257 | 0.2% | 107.3% | 33 | 1,053 | 0.2% | 27.2% | 32 | 31 |
| 32 | SsangYong | 149 | 0.1% | -13.9% | 34 | 567 | 0.1% | -0.2% | 34 | 36 |
| 33 | Bentley | 141 | 0.1% | 11.0% | 35 | 554 | 0.1% | -1.9% | 35 | 33 |
| 34 | Alfa Romeo | 129 | 0.1% | 27.7% | 36 | 486 | 0.1% | -2.0% | 36 | 34 |
| 35 | Jeep | 115 | 0.1% | -36.1% | 31 | 1,137 | 0.2% | 47.1% | 31 | 32 |
| 36 | Genesis | 99 | 0.1% | 67.8% | 39 | 460 | 0.1% | 208.7% | 37 | 39 |
| 37 | Ineos | 94 | 0.1% | new | – | 94 | 0.0% | new | 43 | – |
| 38 | Subaru | 81 | 0.1% | 12.5% | 32 | 662 | 0.1% | 71.9% | 33 | 37 |
| 39 | Maserati | 67 | 0.1% | 8.1% | 37 | 384 | 0.1% | 50.0% | 38 | 40 |
| 40 | Abarth | 57 | 0.0% | -55.1% | 40 | 145 | 0.0% | -64.5% | 40 | 35 |
| 41 | Smart | 32 | 0.0% | -72.4% | 42 | 113 | 0.0% | -79.9% | 41 | 38 |
| 42 | BYD | 29 | 0.0% | new | 43 | 63 | 0.0% | new | 44 | – |
| 43 | Alpine | 20 | 0.0% | -13.0% | 41 | 107 | 0.0% | 5.9% | 42 | 41 |
| 44 | Ora | 11 | 0.0% | new | 38 | 225 | 0.0% | new | 39 | 42 |
| 45 | Maxus | 1 | 0.0% | new | 44 | 4 | 0.0% | new | 45 | – |
| – | Other British | 312 | 0.2% | 75.3% | – | 1,214 | 0.2% | 48.6% | – | – |
| – | Other Imports | 131 | 0.1% | -8.4% | – | 555 | 0.1% | -1.6% | – | – |
UK April 2023 – models:
| Pos | Model | Apr-23 | % | /22 | Mar | 2023 | % | /22 | Pos | FY22 |
| 1 | Ford Puma | 3,570 | 2.7% | 7.6% | 6 | 13,128 | 2.1% | 10.8% | 3 | 4 |
| 2 | Vauxhall Corsa | 3,203 | 2.4% | 6.7% | 7 | 14,034 | 2.2% | 9.6% | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Kia Sportage | 3,073 | 2.3% | 27.7% | 4 | 12,632 | 2.0% | 13.8% | 4 | 6 |
| 4 | Hyundai Tucson | 2,911 | 2.2% | 30.5% | 5 | 12,378 | 2.0% | 22.3% | 6 | 7 |
| 5 | Audi A3 | 2,548 | 1.9% | 16.3% | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 6 | Nissan Qashqai | 2,538 | 1.9% | -33.3% | 3 | 13,611 | 2.2% | 20.1% | 2 | 1 |
| 7 | VW T-Roc | 2,385 | 1.8% | n/a | n/a | 10,505 | 1.7% | n/a | 9 | n/a |
| 8 | Ford Fiesta | 2,336 | 1.8% | n/a | 10 | 10,473 | 1.7% | n/a | 10 | 10 |
| 9 | MG ZS | 2,335 | 1.8% | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 10 | Mini | 2,304 | 1.7% | -25.4% | 8 | 10,632 | 1.7% | -2.9% | 8 | 5 |
| n/a | Tesla Model Y | 1,550 | 1.2% | n/a | 1 | 11,503 | 1.8% | n/a | 4 | 3 |
| n/a | Nissan Juke | 1,715 | 1.3% | n/a | 2 | 12,590 | 2.0% | n/a | 5 | n/a |
Source: SMMT
