British Auto Market in 2025 reports mild growth. Sales up to April gained 3.1% to 700,833 units, with Volkswagen firmly on top and Peugeot emerging as standout brand. EVs dropped 11.4% with greater competition from chinese brands.
Economic Environment
In 2025, the UK economy is forecast to grow by 1.7%, driven by household consumption and government spending, though long-term growth prospects remain weak due to slowing labor supply and low business investment. Inflation is expected to average 2.4%, remaining elevated due to rising employer costs and wage increases, leading the Bank of England to take a cautious approach to rate cuts, reducing the base rate to 4% by year-end. Consumer spending is set to rise from 1.0% in 2024 to 1.8% in 2025, supported by falling interest rates, low unemployment, and real wage growth.
Investment is projected to grow 2.3%, aided by government initiatives, but uncertainty in global markets may limit upside potential. Unemployment will remain stable at 4.3%, while the trade sector faces ongoing challenges, with net trade expected to continue dragging on GDP growth. The EU economy, the UK’s largest trading partner, remains sluggish, with Germany and France facing structural and political hurdles. Global trade uncertainty is increasing, as the incoming US administration signals a greater willingness to use tariffs, creating risks of financial market volatility and economic disruption. If tariffs are imposed permanently with widespread retaliation, UK GDP could be 0.4% lower than baseline projections.
Automotive Industry Trend And Outlook
Despite economic challenges, the UK car market grew 3.3% up to Apri 2025, reaching 700,833 cumulative sales. Despite the negative performance during the early months of the year, the market more or less continues to fluctuate aroud patterns of 2024.
Looking at cumulative data up to April 2025 brand-wise, Volkswagen was still the best selling brand (+16.6%).
BMW ranked 2nd (-5%) while Kia -up 1 spot- ranked 3rd (+5.5%).
Ford -up 1 spot- ranked 4th (+2.4%) followed by Audi -down 2 spots- in 5th (-16.1%), and Peugeot -up 6 spots- in 6th (+34.6%).
Mercedes ranked 7th (-6.6%) ahead of Nissan -down 2 spots- in 8th (-16.5%), Opel in 9th (-1.6%) and Toyota -down 2 spots- in 10th (-5.3%).
Looking at best-selling models, the leader was still the Ford Puma (-5.9%). The Kia Sportage -up 1 spot- followed in 2nd (+3.5%) while the Nissan Qashqai -down 1 spot- ranked in 3rd (-18%).
EV Market Trend and Outlook
Tesla claimed top spot despite losing6.6%. BMW in 2nd grew 0.9%, though BYD -up 11 spots- reported the most impressive performance among best-selling carmakers and threatened the first 2 brand’s leadership (+483%).
Medium-Term Market Trend
The decline of the British vehicle market has been ongoing for decades, driven by the relocation of manufacturing to lower-cost European countries, with Brexit further accelerating the downturn. After peaking at 2.6 million sales in 2016, the market began to shrink, hitting 1.6 million in 2020 due to the pandemic. Instead of recovering, sales remained weak, with a 0.7% increase in 2021 followed by a 1.6% decline in 2022.
Ongoing global challenges, including inflation, high fuel prices, political instability, supply chain disruptions, and the transition to EVs, have been amplified in the UK by Brexit’s economic impact. In 2023, the market rebounded by 17% to 1.9 million, with growth continuing into 2024 (+2.6%), despite policy uncertainty. However, over the past decade, sales have declined nearly 20% from 2014 levels.
EV adoption has grown over time but has seen fluctuations, including a slowdown in 2018-19. After peaking in 2023, growth stalled in 2024 as manufacturers struggled with the EV transition and broader market pressures. Reflecting this uncertainty, BMW delayed a £600 million investment in its Oxford plant for electric Mini production.
Tables with sales figures
In the tables below we report sales for the top 40 Brands and top 10 Manufacturers Groups and the top 10 models.
