These Are The Best-Selling Cars In The UK So Far In 2025

Yes, we’re already past the halfway point of the year. Time is a never-ending, relentless march to death, and the only guarantee in life is its passage, etc, etc.

On a slightly more relevant note to a website called Car Throttle, it means we can take a look at which cars the buying public has been sweeping up en masse so far in 2025. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has published the list of best-selling cars for the first six months of the year, and the results aren’t all that surprising. From 10th to 1st, these are…

10 - Volkswagen Tiguan (15,223 registered)

Kicking the list off is the school run mum special, the Volkswagen Tiguan. Given the crossover was subject to a pretty heavy facelift last year, it’s no surprise to see that it’s returned to the top 10 so far in 2025, having been absent from the best-sellers all of last year.

9 - Volvo XC40 (15,267 registered)

Although the Volvo XC40 is getting on a bit now – having been introduced in 2017 and facelifted in 2023 – it’s remained ever-present among the UK’s best-selling cars.

It helps it’s a good thing to drive, and looks pretty handsome too. It’s unclear if these figures include the renamed EX40 EV, though.

8 - Hyundai Tucson (15,496 registered)

Hyundai hasn’t really put a foot wrong recently, has it? The Ioniq 5 N is magnificent, we’ve just had the Inster in with a review coming soon (Spoiler alert: we love it) and even its more mainstream offerings are bang-on the money.

No surprise, then, that the Hyundai Tucson continues to be popular with the UK buying masses. Exciting? Not really. Absolutely brilliant as a mode of transport? No arguments from us.

7 - MG HS (16,115 registered)

Although Chinese car manufacturers are arriving in the UK en masse with the threat of taking everything by storm, just one car from the country registers in 2025’s top 10 so far.

That’s the MG HS SUV, probably helped by the fact it offers much of the kit of closely-sized rivals at a decent discount. It’s not the car we’d pick to have out of these 10, but it’s clearly spearheading success for MG regardless.

6 - Volkswagen Golf (16,884 registered)

Ok, we’re not expecting much of these sales will be made up of GTIs and Rs, but it’s good to see the good old Volkswagen Golf still resonating with the car-buying masses in a world of compromised crossovers.

We suspect the relatively recent introduction of the 8.5 Golf has helped that, doing away with silly touch-sensitive buttons and generally making the hatch a compelling option once again.

5 - Nissan Juke (18,527 registered)

No, we don’t understand it either. Next.

4 - Vauxhall Corsa - (20,128 registered)

Although superminis are dying out in favour of crossovers, the Vauxhall Corsa clearly still resonates with buyers. Probably in part due to some pretty mega finance deals being offered.

Given the platform-sharing Peugeot 208 GTI has just been revealed too, there’s hope of a fast one coming under the GSe moniker at some stage soon.

3 - Nissan Qashqai (22,085 registered)

Although Nissan has had some pretty public struggles lately, it’s still got quite a strong presence in the UK.

Most popular of the lot is the Qashqai, which we proclaimed as the best car for non-car people when we drove the updated version last year. Clearly, many of those non-car people are in agreement.

2 - Kia Sportage (23,012 registered)

There’s not really a whole lot interesting to say about the Kia Sportage, as it’s a wholly uninteresting car to us. That’s probably no bad thing though, because it’s pretty exceptional at being unexceptional.

Pair that with Kia’s seven-year warranty, and it’s hard to argue with it being one of the most popular cars in the country. With a new version inbound imminently, expect a surge in new sales.

1 - Ford Puma (26,355 registered)

2023 and 2024’s best-selling car is, surprise surprise, the best-selling car so far in 2025. The Ford Puma is fundamentally a decent car, even if we preferred the now-defunct Fiesta. Don’t be surprised to see it comfortably top the list by the end of the year, too.

Just don’t be fooled into thinking putting an ST badge on it makes it compelling to the enthusiast – in fact, that ‘hot’ version is the one Puma we’d probably steer clear of.