Jaecoo 7 BEATS the Ford Puma and Nissan Qashqai to be the best-selling car in March

The Jaecoo 7 was the best-selling car in the UK in March, ahead of the Ford Puma and Nissan Qashqai, as total registrations rose by 6.6%.

The Chinese have been bothering the UK’s new car sales top ten for a while now, so it should come as no great surprise that a Chinese car – the Jacoo 7 – topped the UK sales chart in March, comfortably outselling perennial best-sellers like the Ford Puma, Nissan Qashqai and Kia Sportage. But it’s a sea change nevertheless, and a warning of what’s to come for legacy car makers.

The chart-topping success for Jaecoo comes in the best-selling month of the year, which saw registrations up by 6.6% to 380,627, the best March figures since 2019, which were driven by private demand, which was up by 10.1%.

March was also the best month for electrified sales, with PHEV numbers up by 46.9%, Hybrids up by 7.3% and EVs up by 24.2%, although the EV market share of 22.6% is a long way short of the 33% mandated for 2026.

Mike Hawes, SMMT CEO, said:

The strongest new car market since 2019, with the highest ever volume of EV registrations, is a boost to the industry and the economy. However, the headlines belie the costs incurred and the challenges involved. Much of March’s performance will be from orders placed before the start of the Iran conflict, which threatens to raise the cost of living, undermining consumer confidence. Against this backdrop, and with the EV market falling further away from mandated levels despite record levels of incentives, an urgent review of the transition is required to secure a sustainable market, economic growth and the UK’s net zero ambitions.