Chinese newcomer deposes Ford Puma, Nissan Qashqai and Kia Sportage to take the top spot
The Jaecoo 7 was the UK’s best-selling new car in March, beating regular chart-toppers the Ford Puma, Nissan Qashqai and Kia Sportage.
A total of 10,064 examples of the Chinese crossover were registered last month, compared with 9193 Pumas, 8718 Qashqais and 7310 Sportages.
Such a performance in what is typically the strongest month of the year for sales – as buyers look to get a car with a new numberplate format – has propelled the 7 into second place for the year so far, with 15,569 registrations. That puts it just behind the Puma, with 16,128.
The 7 is notable for its meteoric rise, as the debut model from a brand that is new to the UK. Jaecoo, owned by Chinese giant Chery, began selling cars here only in January 2025 yet has already outperformed long-established manufacturers so far this year. Those include Citroën, Mazda and Mini, among others.
March was also a record month for registrations of electric cars, at 86,120 examples. This however means their sales still trail the 33% target set by the government’s zero-emission vehicle mandate for 2026, with a market share of 22.4%.
SMMT chief Mike Hawes warned that the ongoing war in Iran could cause disruption: “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.”
This situation could work in favour of EVs, though. With fuel prices surging due to the conflict, dealers trading in used EVs have told Autocar of a dramatic rise in interest. This could also bring greater sales of new EVs if the war continues for an extended period.
Alongside EVs, registrations of hybrids and plug-in hybrids also rose dramatically, with the latter up 46.9% year on year to 49,671.
Meanwhile, sales of pure-petrol and pure-diesel cars dropped by 6.1% and 11.4% respectively.
