The Ford Fiesta has sensationally lost its crown as Britain’s best-selling car, with the Vauxhall Corsa taking the title from Ford for the first time in 50 years.
Almost 41,000 Vauxhall Corsas were sold in 2021, far ahead of every other new car registered in Britain.
Fewer than 27,500 Ford Fiestas left UK showrooms during the same period, placing it well down in the best-sellers chart – and outside the top 10.
The last time a non-Ford topped the UK chart was way back in 1971 with the Austin 1100/1300.
And that wasn’t it for surprises. Remarkably, the Tesla Model 3 electric car ended 2021 as runner-up behind the Corsa, after a monumental sales performance in December: over 9,600 were registered last month alone.
It caps an amazing year of electric car growth, with battery-electric cars taking a market share of well over 11 percent. More electric cars were sold in 2021 than in 2016-2020 combined.
Vauxhall added that Corsa-e sales totaled 5,605 during 2021 – meaning pure electric Corsas accounted for more than 14 percent of overall registrations.
The number of Corsa-e models sold was up almost 100 percent on 2020, too.
Surprise best-sellers
Not only was the Ford Fiesta absent from the 2021 top 10 best-sellers, so too was the Focus family hatchback, another perennially popular model. The only Ford in the top 10 was the Puma, in eighth place.
A Ford spokesperson told Motoring Research last year that this was because the firm was prioritising the Puma, along with other more profitable models, to make best use of its limited semiconductor supplies.
With Ford volumes fading, it was the Mini that ended up third, followed by the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, then the Volkswagen Polo and Golf.
As for electric cars, the Tesla Model 3 clearly led the way, with the Kia Niro in second and the Volkswagen ID.3 in third.
The BMW 3 Series was the best-selling plug-in hybrid car, beating the Mercedes-Benz A-Class and Volvo XC40.
‘Fully deserved’
“The Vauxhall Corsa fully deserves to be back at the top of the UK sales charts as the nation’s favourite new car,” said Vauxhall MD Paul Willcox.
“Alongside its design, innovative technology and affordable pricing, a full choice of powertrain technologies has been very popular – with customers able to choose between the fully-electric Corsa-e or petrol and diesel engines.”
The availability of an electric Corsa does seem to be a key part of the car’s success, given how pure electric cars accounted for more than one in four sales in December.
Ford may be increasingly worried by its lack of an electric Fiesta; the most affordable pure electric Ford is the £42,530 Mustang Mach-e.
Late last year, Vauxhall slashed Corsa-e prices so the range now starts from less than £26,000.
Best-selling cars 2021
- Vauxhall Corsa – 40,914 cars
- Tesla Model 3 – 34,783
- Mini – 31,792
- Mercedes-Benz A-Class – 30,710
- Volkswagen Polo – 30,634
- Volkswagen Golf – 30,240
- Nissan Qashqai – 29,922
- Ford Puma – 28,697
- Kia Sportage – 27,611
- Toyota Yaris – 27,415
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