The most popular car of 2013

Find out which new and used cars were bestsellers in 2013.

It’s been another good year for the UK car industry according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Output from car plants has increased by 4.5% on 2012, investment is shaping up to total in excess of £2.5 billion and new registrations are on a 21-month streak of growth and counting.

The total number of new car sales up to November have already overtaken last year’s full-year total. 2,111,819 have been recorded from 1st January to 31st November 2013, up 10% compared to the 2012 full-year figure of 2,044,609.

On average people in the UK bought around 720 more cars per day in 2013 compared to 2012. At this rate the SMMT expects the car market to reach its forecast of 2.25 million registrations by the end of 2013.

So which were the bestselling cars of 2013?

2013’s bestselling new cars

Here’s a rundown of the bestselling new cars of 2013 so far:

Source: The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders

*These figures are for new registrations from 1st January to 31st November 2013.

Superminis and small family cars are prominent on the list of the bestsellers for 2013.

The Ford Fiesta has bagged the most new registrations for what could be the fifth year running. It shifted 113,417 units – up 4,152 on last year.

Another Ford in the shape of the Focus has reclaimed the runners-up prize from the Vauxhall Corsa selling 81,791 units putting it nearly 4,000 units clear of its rival.

The Vauxhall Corsa shifted 77,861 units and the Vauxhall Astra 62,835.

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The cost of a new bestseller

So how much will purchasing one of the bestsellers new set you back?

Here are the best prices for each of the ten cars in the table above when bought new:

*Starting price for the cheapest model as listed on the manufacturer’s website.

The Vauxhall Corsa 3-door is the most affordable out of the bestselling cars of 2013, with a starting price of £8,995.

The Ford Fiesta Studio and the Peugeot 208 3-door follow closely behind with these models starting from £9,995.

The priciest car on the list is the BMW 3-Series, the Saloon model comes in at £23,270 when bought new.

To find out more about the different ways you can finance buying a new car read Car finance options: credit, loans, HP and leasing.

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2013’s bestselling used cars

A new car will depreciate the moment you drive it off the forecourt.

That’s probably the reason most car buyers opt for a used model instead. Each year, over three times as many used cars are sold compared to new.

Experian regularly publishes a Used Car Sales Index detailing the number of second-hand motors that are sold in the UK using DVLA data.

According to the data there have been 5,274,821 used car registrations up to September 2013 alone.

Here’s a rundown of the top ten bestselling used cars:

Source: Experian’s MarketView Online and the DVLA

*These figures represent units sold in Q2 (April to June) 2013

As you can see seven of the bestselling new cars feature in the bestselling used cars list.

The Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus, Vauxhall Corsa, Vauxhall Astra and the VW Golf again dominate the top five position, with the Ford Focus coming out top in used car sales.

The Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec Climate 2007 made quite an impact on the WhatCar? Used Car of the Year 2013 awards, coming top in Family Cars and Estate Cars costing less than £6,000 with an average dealer price of £4,800. Compared to a new model which will set you back £17,095 that’s a saving of over 70%.

If you want to find out more about buying a second-hand car, read this article How to get a cheap used car.

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