PoloDriver

The Volkswagen Polo returned to the most popular cars in the UK chart in July, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). With 2,932 Polos registered, the small Volkswagen was in seventh place, marking the first time it had been in the rundown since February 2020. However, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Polo maintained its eighth position in the year-to-date top ten figures – 13,046 Polos have been registered since the start of 2020.

The Vauxhall Corsa topped the chart, with 5,455 registrations, no doubt a benefit of the all-new model now hitting the UK. The Ford Fiesta was in second place with 5,421 units, with another blue oval-badged model, the Focus, third, 4,981 cars finding homes. The Volkswagen Golf and Mercedes-Benz A-Class rounded out the top five cars, with 3,936 and 3,922 units respectively.

Pent-up demand
Unsurprisingly, UK registrations were down 41.9 per cent when compared to 2019 year-to-date figures. The SMMT reports that pent-up demand saw registrations rally in July with an 11.3 per cent increase to 174,887 vehicles. By the end of the year, though, it forecasts overall tallies to be down by 30 per cent, totalling £20bn in lost sales.* The UK’s top ten most popular new cars during July 2020 and the year-to-date (sales figure and position in brackets) were as follows:

1 Vauxhall Corsa: 5,455 (23,101, 3rd)
2 Ford Fiesta: 5,421 (23,126, 1st)
3 Ford Focus: 4,981 (23,126, 2nd)
4 Volkswagen Golf: 3,936 (21,825, 4th)

5 Mercedes-Benz A-Class: 3,922 (17,648, 6th)
6 Nissan Qashqai: 2,971 (17,777, 5th)

7 Volkswagen Polo: 2,932 (13,046, 8th)
8 Mini: 2,906 (15,146, 7th)
9 Volkswagen Tiguan: 2.880 (12,822, 9th)
10 Ford Kuga: 2,686

(The 2020 year-to-date top ten most popular car absent from July 2020’s UK registration figures was the tenth-placed Toyota Yaris with 12,646 units recorded.)

* Based on an expected shortfall of c708,000 units at an average cost from JATO of c£28,000 per vehicle.