The Renault Symbioz is #6 in Northern Ireland in May.

Thanks to SMMT we can share with you the Top 10 best-sellers for each UK nation in May. Keep in mind this is a zoom in by nation, all sales figures are already included in the May 2026 UK update. This month Northern Ireland performs best at +22% to 3,984 units, followed by England up 7.3% to 137,634, Wakes at +7% to 5,152 and Scotland up 2.4% to 13,610. Year-to-date, England is up 9.3% to 798,445 sales, Wales up 7.4% to 29,690, Scotland up 5.7% to 74,760 but Northern Ireland is off -0.6% to 20,759.

Podium finishers are as follows: the Ford Puma is #1 in England and #2 in Wales, the Kia Sportage #1 in Northern Ireland, #2 in England and Scotland and #3 in Wales, the Vauxhall Corsa #1 in Scotland, the MG HS #1 in Wales, the Hyundai Tucson #2 in Northern Ireland, the Jaecoo 7 #3 in England, #4 in Scotland and #10 in Wales, the Nissan Qashqai #3 in Northern Ireland and the Omoda 5 #3 in Scotland.

Note there are 6 Chinese models in the Scottish Top 10 this month. Three nameplates make their very first appearance in any UK nation Top 10 in May: the Jaecoo 5 #5 in Scotland, Renault Symbioz #6 in Northern Ireland and the Chery Tiggo 8 #10 in Scotland. Other great performers include the Kia Niro #7 in Northern Ireland, the Vauxhall Frontera #8 in England, Chery Tiggo 7 #8 in Scotland and Peugeot 3008 #9 in Northern Ireland.

Previous month: UK nations April 2026: Omoda 5 leads Scotland

One year ago: UK nations May 2025: MG ZS, Peugeot 2008 and MG 3 shine

Full May 2026 Top 10 models for each UK nation below.

England (UK) May 2026 – models:

Pos	Model	May-26	%	/25	UK	Apr	2026	%	/25	Pos	FY25
1	Ford Puma	3,414	2.5%	+ 9.5%	1	1	20,825	2.6%	+ 8.3%	1	1
2	Kia Sportage	2,707	2.0%	+ 6.4%	2	2	18,220	2.3%	+ 14.1%	2	2
3	Jaecoo 7	2,592	1.9%	n/a	4	7	18,135	2.3%	n/a	3	n/a
4	Vauxhall Corsa	2,463	1.8%	+ 33.9%	3	8	13,309	1.7%	+ 10.8%	5	8
5	Nissan Qashqai	2,405	1.7%	– 5.1%	5	3	15,850	2.0%	+ 10.8%	4	3
6	VW Golf	2,335	1.7%	+ 44.3%	6	4	12,497	1.6%	+ 4.3%	6	5
7	Mini Cooper	2,302	1.7%	n/a	7	5	11,816	1.5%	n/a	7	10
8	Vauxhall Frontera	2,181	1.6%	n/a	9	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
9	VW Tiguan	2,114	1.5%	+ 20.7%	8	6	10,844	1.4%	+ 0.9%	9	6
10	Volvo XC40	1,792	1.3%	#DIV/0!	n/a	9	11,553	1.4%	n/a	8	7
n/a	MG HS	1,648	1.2%	+ 51.7%	n/a	n/a	10,728	1.3%	+ 3.4%	10	n/a

Northern Ireland May 2026 – models:

Pos	Model	####	%	/25	UK	Apr	2026	%	/25	Pos	FY25
1	Kia Sportage	178	4.5%	+ 143.8%	2	3	860	4.1%	+ 48.0%	1	1
2	Hyundai Tucson	135	3.4%	+ 150.0%	10	7	517	2.5%	+ 13.1%	5	7
3	Nissan Qashqai	133	3.3%	+ 43.0%	5	5	604	2.9%	– 1.6%	3	4
4	Ford Puma	130	3.3%	+ 73.3%	1	1	730	3.5%	+ 43.1%	2	2
5	MG HS	82	2.1%	+ 18.8%	n/a	n/a	421	2.0%	n/a	7	n/a
6	Renault Symbioz	73	1.8%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
7	Kia Niro	66	1.7%	n/a	n/a	2	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
8	VW Tiguan	66	1.7%	+ 65.0%	8	9	426	2.1%	+ 2.9%	6	10
9	Peugeot 3008	64	1.6%	– 9.9%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	6
10	Hyundai Kona	60	1.5%	n/a	n/a	8	382	1.8%	n/a	8	8
n/a	Volvo XC40	55	1.4%	– 23.6%	n/a	n/a	350	1.7%	– 14.4%	9	n/a
n/a	Nissan Juke	36	0.9%	– 55.6%	n/a	n/a	528	2.5%	+ 22.8%	4	5
n/a	VW Golf	n/a	n/a	n/a	6	n/a	345	1.7%	– 26.1%	10	9

Scotland (UK) May 2026 – models:

Pos	Model	May-26	%	/25	UK	Apr	2026	%	/25	Pos	FY25
1	Vauxhall Corsa	490	3.6%	– 31.5%	3	2	1,889	2.5%	– 51.0%	2	1
2	Kia Sportage	439	3.2%	– 11.8%	2	n/a	1,471	2.0%	– 36.4%	5	2
3	Omoda 5	370	2.7%	n/a	n/a	1	1,817	2.4%	n/a	3	n/a
4	Jaecoo 7	354	2.6%	n/a	4	n/a	1,924	2.6%	n/a	1	4
5	Jaecoo 5	326	2.4%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
6	VW Polo	290	2.1%	– 7.1%	n/a	7	1,446	1.9%	+ 1.2%	6	5
7	Ford Puma	285	2.1%	– 5.9%	1	4	1,761	2.4%	+ 36.0%	4	3
8	Chery Tiggo 7	248	1.8%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	7	n/a
9	MG HS	234	1.7%	n/a	n/a	6	1,408	1.9%	n/a	8	8
10	Chery Tiggo 8	219	1.6%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
n/a	Nissan Qashqai	209	1.5%	– 42.3%	5	n/a	1,426	1.9%	– 8.1%	7	6
n/a	VW Golf	160	1.2%	+ 18.5%	6	10	1,261	1.7%	– 2.9%	10	n/a
n/a	Peugeot 208	109	0.8%	+ 58.0%	n/a	5	1,358	1.8%	+ 2.1%	9	10

Wales (UK) May 2026 – models:

Pos	Model	May-26	%	/25	UK	Apr	2026	%	/25	Pos	FY25
1	MG HS	215	4.2%	+ 38.7%	n/a	2	914	3.1%	+ 19.3%	2	2
2	Ford Puma	149	2.9%	– 3.9%	1	1	960	3.2%	+ 14.4%	1	1
3	Kia Sportage	113	2.2%	– 13.7%	2	3	702	2.4%	– 4.9%	3	3
4	Nissan Qashqai	108	2.1%	+ 20.0%	5	9	671	2.3%	+ 13.5%	4	5
5	Vauxhall Corsa	101	2.0%	– 1.0%	3	n/a	441	1.5%	n/a	9	10
6	Volvo XC40	97	1.9%	– 4.0%	n/a	4	510	1.7%	– 12.7%	7	9
7	Hyundai Tucson	93	1.8%	n/a	10	7	437	1.5%	n/a	10	n/a
8	MG ZS	88	1.7%	– 47.3%	n/a	6	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	4
9	VW Golf	83	1.6%	n/a	6	5	543	1.8%	+ 65.5%	6	n/a
10	Jaecoo 7	81	1.6%	n/a	4	n/a	621	2.1%	n/a	5	n/a
n/a	VW Polo	68	1.3%	– 37.0%	n/a	8	444	1.5%	n/a	8	n/a

Source: SMMT

The Vauxhall Frontera ends May in 9th place.

New car sales in the UK gain 7.1% year-on-year in May to 160,662 units, the best May result since pre-pandemic 2019 but still -12.6% below the level of 7 years ago. The year-to-date volume after 5 months is up 8.7% to 924,763. Encouragingly, private sales are up 17.2% to 65,781 and 40.9% share vs. 37.4% a year ago while fleet sales are up just 1.8% to 91,765 and 57.1% share vs. 60% in May 2025. Business sales drop -18.8% to 3,116 and 1.9% share vs. 2.6%. In terms of power source, BEVs surge 34.2% to 43,931 and 27.3% share vs. 21.8% a year ago, PHEVs are up 23.9% to 22,167 and 13.8% share vs. 11.9%, HEVs edge up 1.8% to 20,719 and 12.9% share vs. 13.6%, petrol is down -7.1% to 66,223 and 41.2% share vs. 47.5% and diesel skids -2.2% to 7,622 and 4.7% share vs. 5.2%.

Looking at the brands ranking, Volkswagen (+4%) easily stays on top at 8.8% share, significantly above the 8% it holds year-to-date. Audi (+12.4%) leapfrogs past Kia (+4.4%), BMW (-8.8%) and Ford (-18.6%) to land in 2nd place, a ranking it last held in November. Vauxhall (+9.4%) delivers a rare strong month and climbs back up five spots on April to #5. MG (+12.6%) is also strong at #6 and 4.6% share. Hyundai (-16.3%) and Skoda (-10.9%) are hit hard below. Further down, Jaecoo (+210.1%) is up five ranks on last month to #13, a new ranking record for the brand eclipsing the #17 of last March. BYD (+70.5%) is also on fire at #14 while Mini (+78.7%) does even better at #15. Omoda (+84.6%), Citroen (+60.1%) and Tesla (+45.5%) make themselves noticed.

Model-wise, the Ford Puma (+8.8%) and Kia Sportage (+5.6%) are in the lead again while the Vauxhall Corsa (+14.2%) is up four ranks on last month to #3, the nameplate’s first podium finish since April 2025. Surprise leader in March, the Jaecoo 7 is back up six spots to #4 and remains at #3 year-to-date. The Nissan Qashqai (-7.4%) is in difficulty and rounds out the Top 5. The VW Golf (+42.5%), Mini Cooper (+25.3%) and VW Tiguan (+21.6%) are all in outstanding shape below. Finally, the Vauxhall Frontera breaks into the UK Top 10 for the very first time at #9 with 1.5% share.

Previous month: UK April 2026: Market up 24% on low year-ago volumes, Omoda 5 breaks into Top 10

One year ago: UK May 2025: Stable market (+1.6%), Hyundai Kona hits record ranking

Full May 2026 Top 55 All brands and Top 10 models below.

UK May 2026 – brands:

Pos	Brand	May-26	%	/25	Apr	2026	%	/25	Pos	FY25
1	Volkswagen	14,110	8.8%	+ 4.0%	1	73,988	8.0%	– 4.2%	1	1
2	Audi	9,098	5.7%	+ 12.4%	5	47,231	5.1%	+ 7.6%	5	5
3	Kia	8,955	5.6%	+ 4.4%	2	52,493	5.7%	+ 1.0%	2	4
4	BMW	8,503	5.3%	– 8.8%	3	51,110	5.5%	– 3.5%	3	2
5	Vauxhall	7,675	4.8%	+ 9.4%	10	41,404	4.5%	+ 4.7%	7	13
6	MG	7,463	4.6%	+ 12.6%	6	38,346	4.1%	+ 9.4%	8	10
7	Ford	6,911	4.3%	– 18.6%	4	47,915	5.2%	– 4.5%	4	3
8	Skoda	6,621	4.1%	– 10.9%	8	37,296	4.0%	+ 5.1%	9	11
9	Mercedes	6,552	4.1%	– 7.5%	7	41,837	4.5%	+ 4.9%	6	9
10	Toyota	6,187	3.9%	– 4.5%	14	36,576	4.0%	– 3.6%	10	7
11	Hyundai	6,077	3.8%	– 16.3%	9	36,355	3.9%	– 6.0%	11	6
12	Renault	5,646	3.5%	+ 8.2%	15	29,291	3.2%	+ 7.4%	16	15
13	Jaecoo	5,207	3.2%	+ 210.1%	18	27,996	3.0%	+ 369.2%	18	23
14	BYD	5,157	3.2%	+ 70.5%	12	31,553	3.4%	+ 113.1%	14	17
15	Mini	5,151	3.2%	+ 78.7%	16	23,965	2.6%	+ 29.9%	19	18
16	Peugeot	5,114	3.2%	– 16.9%	11	35,310	3.8%	– 13.0%	12	12
17	Land Rover	4,934	3.1%	+ 6.3%	19	30,247	3.3%	+ 2.3%	15	16
18	Volvo	4,918	3.1%	– 0.3%	13	29,035	3.1%	+ 3.2%	17	14
19	Nissan	4,832	3.0%	– 29.8%	17	33,221	3.6%	– 16.2%	13	8
20	Cupra	3,484	2.2%	+ 14.7%	20	18,655	2.0%	+ 22.1%	20	20
21	Chery	3,166	2.0%	new	22	14,143	1.5%	new	24	34
22	Tesla	2,934	1.8%	+ 45.5%	33	15,504	1.7%	+ 3.3%	21	19
23	Omoda	2,754	1.7%	+ 84.6%	21	15,078	1.6%	+ 169.4%	22	27
24	Citroen	2,084	1.3%	+ 60.1%	23	14,226	1.5%	+ 114.0%	23	26
25	Dacia	2,048	1.3%	– 5.1%	24	12,298	1.3%	– 8.2%	26	22
26	Suzuki	1,656	1.0%	+ 45.0%	27	11,565	1.3%	+ 43.1%	27	29
27	Porsche	1,539	1.0%	+ 10.9%	26	7,580	0.8%	– 4.6%	29	28
28	Seat	1,412	0.9%	– 23.6%	34	7,032	0.8%	– 33.9%	30	25
29	Polestar	1,305	0.8%	+ 11.2%	31	6,532	0.7%	+ 14.0%	31	30
30	Mazda	1,276	0.8%	– 51.7%	30	12,945	1.4%	– 14.7%	25	21
31	Honda	1,241	0.8%	– 13.5%	29	9,747	1.1%	– 15.6%	28	24
32	Lexus	1,177	0.7%	– 21.3%	28	6,400	0.7%	– 7.8%	32	31
33	Geely	1,134	0.7%	new	25	4,378	0.5%	new	35	47
34	Leapmotor	944	0.6%	+ 863.3%	36	4,620	0.5%	+ 1057.9%	34	35
35	Jeep	685	0.4%	– 36.7%	32	5,294	0.6%	– 11.5%	33	32
36	Fiat	606	0.4%	– 39.8%	35	2,926	0.3%	– 45.6%	36	33
37	Alpine	368	0.2%	+ 843.6%	37	1,453	0.2%	+ 952.9%	37	39
38	Alfa Romeo	290	0.2%	+ 82.4%	39	1,239	0.1%	+ 11.7%	39	36
39	Changan	287	0.2%	new	38	1,256	0.1%	new	38	49
40	Smart	165	0.1%	+ 75.5%	40	905	0.1%	+ 39.0%	40	38
41	Genesis	116	0.1%	– 31.4%	43	479	0.1%	– 23.8%	44	42
42	Lotus	85	0.1%	+ 51.8%	44	384	0.0%	– 48.4%	45	n/a
43	Xpeng	81	0.1%	+ 1250.0%	42	522	0.1%	+ 923.5%	43	45
44	Subaru	70	0.0%	– 39.7%	45	779	0.1%	– 24.5%	41	37
45	Abarth	69	0.0%	+ 176.0%	46	198	0.0%	+ 7.6%	46	50
46	KGM	63	0.0%	– 37.6%	41	734	0.1%	+ 7.0%	42	41
47	Maserati	55	0.0%	+ 129.2%	47	191	0.0%	+ 38.4%	47	48
48	Aion	31	0.0%	new	–	31	0.0%	new	51	–
49	Ineos	16	0.0%	– 44.8%	48	117	0.0%	+ 10.4%	49	51
50	GWM Ora	12	0.0%	– 63.6%	49	137	0.0%	– 12.7%	48	46
51	Mitsubishi	12	0.0%	n/a	–	12	0.0%	n/a	54
52	DS	9	0.0%	– 93.6%	50	68	0.0%	– 81.7%	50	43
53	Chevrolet	8	0.0%	n/a	51	30	0.0%	– 3.2%	52	52
54	Skywell	7	0.0%	n/a	52	26	0.0%	+ 188.9%	53	54
54	Maxus	2	0.0%	– 33.3%	–	2	0.0%	– 94.3%	55	53
55	Jaguar	0	0.0%	n/a	–	7	0.0%	– 99.6%	54	40
–	Other British	210	0.1%	+ 10.5%	–	1,315	0.1%	– 13.4%	–	–
–	Other Imports	150	0.1%	– 7.4%	–	596	0.1%	– 33.3%	–	–

UK May 2026 – models:

Pos	Model	May-26	%	/25	Apr	2026	%	/25	Pos	FY25
1	Ford Puma	4,019	2.5%	+ 8.8%	1	24,358	2.6%	+ 11.0%	1	1
2	Kia Sportage	3,439	2.1%	+ 5.6%	2	21,274	2.3%	+ 8.3%	2	2
3	Vauxhall Corsa	3,075	1.9%	+ 14.2%	7	15,863	1.7%	– 4.1%	5	4
4	Jaecoo 7	3,027	1.9%	n/a	10	20,695	2.2%	n/a	3	13
5	Nissan Qashqai	2,859	1.8%	– 7.4%	3	18,558	2.0%	+ 8.7%	4	3
6	VW Golf	2,637	1.6%	+ 42.5%	4	14,658	1.6%	+ 3.2%	6	6
7	Mini Cooper	2,605	1.6%	+ 25.3%	5	13,291	1.4%	n/a	9	12
8	VW Tiguan	2,395	1.5%	+ 21.6%	8	12,647	1.4%	+ 0.1%	10	9
9	Vauxhall Frontera	2,372	1.5%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	128
10	Hyundai Tucson	2,194	1.4%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	10
n/a	MG HS	2,182	1.4%	+ 42.4%	9	13,475	1.5%	+ 7.4%	8	8
n/a	Volvo XC40	2,118	1.3%	+ 6.2%	n/a	13,478	1.5%	+ 6.9%	7	7

Source: SMMT