Jaecoo 7 and Tesla Model 3 top September's new car sales top ten

The Chinese Jaecoo 7 and US Tesla Model 3 beat the Ford Puma into third place in September’s new car sales chart.

Who’d have thought, just a few short years ago, that the best-selling car in the UK would be from China, and the second-best-selling car an American EV? But that’s exactly what happened in September.

Topping the sales chart was the Jaecoo 7 – the ‘Temu Range Rover’ – with 10,813 sales, followed by the Tesla Model 3 on 9,929, both a long way ahead of the perennially best-selling Ford Puma in third with a more modest 6,958 sales.

The impressive numbers for Jaecoo and Tesla come in the best September car sales for almost a decade, with 350,508 cars finding homes, with petrol cars still the most popular with a 37.6% market share, followed by EVs on 28.3% (and a record 99,199 sales), PHEVs on 17%, HEVs on 13.1% and Diesels on a tiny 4%.

Sales to private buyers rose by 13.9% as they dived in to grab the new registrations, with Fleet buyers up by a more modest 9.6%, although Fleet buyers account for 54.5% of sales.

Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said:

September’s record EV performance is a major achievement. Drivers are increasingly embracing the growing choice of models made available and high fuel prices are also undoubtedly giving more consumers reason to consider going electric. The industry’s commitment is clear with billions of pounds of investment in new models, new technology and incentives.