Best-selling cars 2015

Last year, David Cameron won a second term as Prime Minister, inflation turned negative for the first time on record in April and the Syrian migrant crisis worsened. In the music charts, Adele’s 25 became the fastest-selling album in UK chart history, while Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith also achieved strong sales, now counted alongside streams.

The year set an all-time record for new car sales in the UK, with registrations up six per cent to 2.63 million – beating the previous record of 2.58 million from 2003.

The market clearly migrated towards superminis, with the Ford Fiesta in the lead ahead of the Vauxhall Corsa. Despite the emissions scandal rocking VW, the Golf was fourth. Nissan’s locally produced Qashqai was next, becoming the first Japanese car to rank in the top five.

After disappearing from the top 10 for 28 years, the MINI nameplate reappeared in 2009. It repeated the feat in 2010, 2011 and 2012, then came back again in 2015 thanks to the addition of a five-door car.

Illustrating the current craze for small crossovers, the Vauxhall Mokka squeezed into the UK new car sales chart top 10 for the first time last year.

Best-selling cars 2015

Click below for the best-selling cars of that year...

• • Best-selling cars 1965
• • Best-selling cars 1975
• • Best-selling cars 1985
• • Best-selling cars 1995
• • Best-selling cars 2005
• • Best-selling cars 2015