The headlines from the latest tranche of new car registration figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) focus on the continuing issue of selling electric vehicles to private customers, with the fleet market still fulfilling a vital role of keeping the overall market in the black.

Look beyond the headlines, however, and the figures provide a clear snapshot of which brands are currently doing well, and which less so.

Car manufacturers are currently facing a number of challenges, not least recent pressure on the cost of living which had taken ‘big ticket’ purchases off the table for many buyers. The transition to electric is also causing major trauma in the industry – trying to up their electric vehicle mix to meet the requirements of the Government’s zero-emissions vehicle mandate has some brands slashing models from their range. But the best-sellers chart will only add to the gloom around EV take-up – not one primarily electric vehicle makes the top 10 chart either in July or year-to-date.

The figures don’t necessarily tell the full story, however. The new-to-the-UK Chinese brands, which are coming to market with a wholly-EV line-up, have recorded some of the largest growth figures across the industry without troubling the best-seller list. But the major growth is indicative of their aggressive expansion programmes particularly in establishing dealer networks, making many more potential buyers aware of their cars.

BYD’s figures soared almost 850% in July, with 768 vehicles registered compared to just 81 in July 2023, and year-to-date the brand has registered more than 3600 vehicles, having sold less than 200 a year ago. But back then the brand was debuting its first car and signing up its initial dealers in a market that knew very little about the brand.

Similarly GWM-ORA, at an even younger stage of its arrival in the UK, has registered 3672 vehicles so far in 2024 compared to just 180 at the same stage last year, though curiously in July the brand’s sales were pegged back to 55 vehicles compared to 72 in July 2023.

Meanwhile the effectively Chinese brand that’s been in the UK longest, MG, has recorded strong sales, up 10% year-to-date, which as MG commercial director Guy Pigounakis told our sister site Leasing Broker News, owes a lot to selling affordable A and B segment cars at a time when other better-known brands are desperately dropping such models in efforts to meet the Government’s Zero Emissions Mandate.

As for the biggest manufacturer on the UK market, that title remains with Volkswagen, with 97,598 vehicles registered year-to-date, 5.3% up on 2023. Premium brands BMW and Audi contest second place, with 79,712 and 74,475 vehicles respectively, more than 30% up for BMW but 5.6% down for Audi.

Then comes Kia, with 70,130 vehicles a modest 2.5% up on the first seven months of 2023 as well as marketing July’s best-selling car in the Sportage. Ford completes the top five, at 64,549 vehicles and with its Puma the year’s best-seller so far, but with registrations almost 23% down on 2023.

Among the other larger players those with happier dealerships and boardrooms are likely to include Honda with growth of almost 24% to 20,215 cars, Nissan which is up 22% at 62,855, Cupra, up 25.4% with 16,715 registrations and remarkably its parent brand SEAT, which while seeming to be producing little new activity has increased registrations by close to 32% at 24,542.

More upmarket success has been seen by Volvo, up almost 28% at 36,959, and the much-maligned Jaguar, its 11,684 cars almost doubling sales of a year ago.

In contrast those with more concern include Citroën’s upmarket sister brand DS which continues to slide, close to 60% in the first seven months of the year with its numbers now in only three figures at 704. Hyundai’s Genesis is on the slide with only 649 registrations, 23.74% down, as are two of the newest brands – Ineos has slid more than 68% to just 164 vehicles, while Polestar sales have more than halved, a 56,4% decline to 3558 vehicles, though the Swedish brand will no doubt put this down to delays in its new Polestar 3 reaching customers.

Finally to emphasise the continuing concerns over the transition to electric, standard-bearer brand Tesla continues to stutter – registrations in 2024 are down almost 13% to 25,491.