The Fastest Growing Car Brands in Great Britain

• Kia is the fastest growing car brand in Great Britain, with an increase of 189% from 2010 to 2020 
• Mini comes in second place, with a growth of 127% 
• Hyundai is third, increasing by 123% 

Kia is the fastest growing car brand in Great Britain, new research has revealed.

The study by car insurance experts CarInsurance.ae used Department for Transport data for all licensed and registered cars of 26 major brands to analyse how many of each brand were on the road in 2010 compared to 2020.

The study revealed that Kia has seen the most growth, with registered cars nearly tripling from 300,500 in 2010 to 869,500 in 2020 – an increase of 189%. The company was founded in 1944, making it the oldest car manufacturer in South Korea, but was bought by the Hyundai Motor Group in 1998. Kia is now flourishing in Great Britain, with more cars on the road than the iconic British Mini.

However, Mini does come in second place with a 127% increase. The brand, bought by BMW in 2000, more than doubled its registered cars in ten years, from 346,600 in 2010, to 786,800 in 2020.

In third place is Hyundai, another brand from South Korea. The brand had 852,400 registered cars in 2020, from just 382,200 in 2010, giving it an increase of 123%.

Skoda, which once had a poor reputation in the UK, is now the fourth fastest growing car brand in Great Britain, with a 102% rise in registered cars. Skoda went from 383,600 registered cars in 2010, to 774,300 in 2020.

The fifth car brand with the biggest growth is Audi. The German manufacturer saw a 102% rise in registered cars from 874,900 in 2010 to more than 1.6 million in 2020. That is an increase of 808,900 cars over the ten-year period, equalling an average of 222 newly registered cars every day.

Top 10 Fastest Growing Car Brands in Great Britain 

Rank	Car Brand	Registered Cars in 2010	Registered Cars in 2020	% Increase
1	Kia	300,500	869,500	189%
2	Mini	346,600	786,800	127%
3	Hyundai	382,200	852,400	123%
4	Skoda	383,600	774,300	102%
5	Audi	874,900	1,683,800	92%
6	Seat	310,200	557,500	80%
7	Mercedes	935,300	1,568,100	68%
8	Land Rover	503,100	831,200	65%
9	BMW	1,181,600	1,847,600	56%
10	Lexus	112,600	161,100	43%

In sixth place is the Spanish brand Seat, which started with 310,200 registered cars in 2010 and increased by 80% to 557,500 in 2020. Mercedes comes in seventh place with an increase of 68%, followed by Land Rover with 65%, and BMW in ninth place with a growth of 56%. In the final spot on the top ten list is the brand Lexus, which had an increase of 43% from 2010 to 2020.

Ford, Vauxhall, and Volkswagen have the highest number of registered cars in the database, with these three brands making up a third of all cars on the road. However, both Ford and Vauxhall have seen a decrease in registered vehicles over the ten-year period, of 6% and 12% respectively. Seven additional brands also saw a fall in registered cars, with French brands Renault and Peugeot experiencing the largest decreases of 42% and 29%.

A spokesperson for CarInsurance.ae commented on the findings of the study:

“It is fascinating to see how smaller car brands such as Kia are seeing more than double the growth rate of larger, more luxury brands such as Audi and Mercedes. If the growth for these brands continues at the same rate, by the year 2030 there will be more Kias on the road than Audis or BMWs. 

“It will be interesting to see how future data compares with these predictions, and to see if changes such as Brexit affect the business of overseas manufacturers such as Kia and Hyundai, compared with British-built car brands such as Jaguar and Land Rover.”

The analysis was conducted by CarInsurance.ae, which is dedicated to helping drivers save time and money while picking car insurance in UAE.