Volkswagen Polo was the third most popular car in the UK during May 2021
The Volkswagen Polo made a triumphant return to the most popular cars in the UK chart in May, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). With 3,518 Polos registered, the small VW was in an amazing third place, up six positions from April’s figures. May’s boost helped it re-enter the top 10 most popular cars chart for the year-to-date, where it sits in tenth place with 11,802 registrations.
The Vauxhall Corsa has topped the monthly chart for the past few months, but slipped to second place in May 2021, with 3,643 registrations. The Volkswagen Golf took the top spot with 4,181 registrations, the arrival of the newest eighth-generation model now fully embedded in the UK. Volkswagen as a brand is also the most-registered marque in the UK for 2021 so far, its 65,955 registrations beating Ford’s total of 60,464.
Eight-fold increase
In May, the SMMT reports that 156,737 new cars registered in May, which is significantly up from 2020 when retailers were closed because of the pandemic. This total is also almost an eight-fold increase on the same month last year, but is down -14.7 per cent on pre-pandemic May 2019, and -13.2 per cent on the 10-year May average. Once again, superminis – cars like the Polo – remained Britain’s most popular car choice, with a 31.1 per cent share. Total registrations for 2021 sit at 296,448 fewer units, or -29.1 per cent less than the average recorded across January to May during the last decade.
The UK’s top ten most popular new cars during May 2021 and the year-to-date (registration figure and position in brackets) were as follows:
1 Volkswagen Golf: 4,181 (14,979 4th)
2 Vauxhall Corsa: 3,643 (20,024, 1st)
3 Volkswagen Polo: 3,518 (11,802, 10th)
4 Mercedes-Benz A-Class: 3,922 (16,752, 3rd)
5 Ford Puma: 3,158 (13,755, 6th)
6 Kia Sportage: 2,956 (13,363, 7th)
7 Ford Fiesta: 2,794 (17,700, 2nd)
8 Toyota Yaris: 2,578
9 Mini: 2,561
10 Audi A3: 2,489
(The 2021 year-to-date top ten most popular cars absent from the May 2021 UK registration figures were the fifth-placed Nissan Qashqai, the eighth-placed Volvo XC40, and the ninth-placed BMW 3 Series with 14,447, 12,449 and 12,354 units recorded respectively.)
