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Weak economic sentiment hit the UK car market in February, with a slowdown in sales as consumers try to pinch pennies.
Overall, sales contracted by 2.5%, to 139,345 units, according to the latest Society of Motor Manufacturing and Traders' data.
In what is usually the smallest month of the year (accounting for only around 4% of annual volumes), February was the fifth consecutive month of decline, SMMT said, with a 4% reduction in fleet registrations — which have driven previous market growth.
Private registrations rose by 4.6% to slightly increase overall market share to 35.6%, while the much smaller business sector rose by 3.3%.
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Here are the top 10 cars according to sales in February:
1. Mini Cooper
BMW's (BMW.DE) Mini Cooper scooped the top spot in last month's car sales, with 2,074 units registered. That represents a big increase from January, when 1728 were bought.
The increase will be welcome news to its manufacturers who had been faced with declining sales in 2024. The brand was down 21.5% in 2024 when compared to 2023, with sales falling from 33,497 to 26,299 units.
Sales slowed as two of the maker's new models faced recalls for problems with their braking system.
A three-door Mini Cooper will currently set you back around £22,300 new. The lowest spec Mini Cooper has a 1.5-litre petrol engine.
2. Telsa Model 3
Tesla (TSLA) sales figures have been a source of contention in recent months, with lacklustre numbers as part of the reason the EV maker has lost around a third of its market cap in this year alone.
The Elon Musk led brand sold fewer than 10,000 vehicles across Europe in January, marking a 45% drop compared to a year ago when it sold over 18,000, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).
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The Model 3, however, has been popular among UK buyers in February, with 1,990 registered in the UK last month.
The Tesla Model retails from about £39,000. It can go from 0 to 60 miles-per-hour in about 2.9 seconds, according to Tesla's website.
3. Tesla Model Y
Tesla (TSLA) dominated the top of the car sales chart last month, also selling 1,861 of its Model Y in February.
While Tesla dominated February sales figures it does not feature in the top 10 selling vehicles for the year-to-date.
Tesla Model Ys will set you back around £44,000 bought new. It can go 0 to 60 miles-per-hour in 4.8 seconds and reaches a top speed of 135 mph.
4. Volkswagen Golf
The Volkswagen (VOW3.DE) Golf has hit the third spot for February car sales in the UK, and is counted among the top-selling models of 2025 so far.