Toyota UK Sales 1990-99 (by model)

Toyota hit the ground running in the 1970's, plateaued in the 1980's so how did things go in the 1990's? Much better as it took a greater share of the market. After a percentage of 1.8% in 1989, a gradual improvement was registered through the decade, peaking at 3.5% in 1998 an 1999. It was now in 8th place up from 12th in that '89 to '99 period. Nothing startling but nicely progressive in a

UK Top 20 Models : 1980-84

The roomy, stylish and frugal Maestro, but reliability was not the best


The tittle is almost right, 1980 is a Top 14. Any Top 10 placing is highlighted in brown. The data is as accurate as I can get it but if anyone can assist with 1980, just let me know.

There were many changes in this five year period. The Cortina became the Sierra and the latter didn't do as well. The Vauxhall Chevette

UK Top 20 Models : 1975-79

I decided to include the Top 20 as I had consistent data for each year. The first sales figures column is how the best 20 finished in 1979. Any models below were also all Top 20 finishers between 1975-78. If sales didn't make the Top 20, then the sales figure square is blank.

Looking at the Top 10 first. Seven US brands and three UK ones made up the best selling models. Ford had five of them,

UK Top 10 Models : 1970-74

The best Cortina (IMO), the Mk III. It was hugely popular in NZ too


Imports were increasing their presence but still all the Top 10 models were either UK (green) or US (blue) owned. From 1963 to 1971, the 1100/1300 range had been the best seller (except for 1967). In 1972 that run came to an end. In fact that was the last year that a UK model was number one. From that year to 2015, a Ford has

UK Top 10 Models : 1965-69

Things were very different back in the late 60's in the UK. All the top 10 and in fact nearly all cars sold were built domestically. Green represents local brands and blue US owned. That said Hillman was taken over by Chrysler in 1967 so could be either colour and still be correct.



The BMC 1100


BMC: The Austin/Morris 1100/1300 range was top selling model in all but 1967, when the Ford

Scotland Top 20 Models : 2000-13

The Vauxhall Corsa has been top in Scotland every year since 2007


Scotland has its own car society, and the accompanying chart below is available from the Scottish Government website. It show sales for the top 20 models. So what has taken place north of the border in the 21st century?

French models seem to be the major, consistent losers. Renault gave up discounting too much and went more

UK Top Four Brands : 2001-2013

The Ford Fiesta shines in the UK, unlike the weather


In the late 90's, Peugeot and Renault got into the top four UK brands. However, it wasn't long before German makes elbowed them out. First VW came in, then BMW. BMW has now given way to Audi. Both Ford and GM Vauxhall has lost market share over the decades and that continued here. The extreme right column is the percentage share the top

UK Top Four Brands : 1985-2000

The British loved the Escort.


Having considered the top four makes from 1965-84, we move on to the mid eighties. Ford took over from BL in 1977 and has stayed there since. BL became the Rover Group in 1986 as it tried to regroup. GM's Vauxhall had mixed results but settled down in the late eighties. Nissan enjoyed nine years at fourth until Peugeot - using the Rootes (Hillman) factory to make

UK Top Four Brands : 1965-84

Considering it came out in 1962, a stylish car in its day.


The only benefit of history is if you can learn something from it. That's my philosophy, although history teachers may say there is more to the subject than that. Anyway, the figures below reveal much about an important part of UK car sales.

After World War II, the UK quickly built up it's peacetime industries such as vehicle