Britain’s most-popular car revealed – and it’s topped the list for the first-time ever

KIA has topped the list for Britain's most popular car - for the first time ever.

The Korean manufacturer's Sportage beat rivals Ford, Vauxhall and Mini for top spot of car registrations in January.

Last year the Sportage finished ninth overall and took the title of Britain’s third most popular SUV.

Kia also ended the month with its highest-ever January sales of 10,504 units sold.

The Sportage and e-Niro were both best-sellers in their market categories with the electric vehicle coming in third place and accounting for nearly a fifth of the company's UK sales.  

The firm also achieved its highest-ever market share of 9.1%.

The fully electric e-Niro continued Kia's sales success and was the best-selling EV in the market.

The company's EV6, which was recently crowned What Car? Car of the Year, and the award-winning Soul EV, Kia’s all-electric range contributed 19% of the brand’s total sales for the month.

Private new car sales were up by more than 60% compared to January last year.

Vauxhall Corsa, Tesla Model 3 and Mini hatch were crowned Britain's most popular cars in 2021.

Paul Philpott, President and CEO of Kia UK Limited said: "This is a fantastic achievement for our brand and our dealer network, who have all worked hard to deliver our award-winning model line-up to customers."

He added: "These record results are partly down to us having better supply than many, but they also clearly reflect the growing demand for our brand and for our range of new cars, which we have seen progressively increase since last summer."

Two models of Sportage are available - with a diesel and petrol-electric hybrid as options.

The car also comes with a seven-year warranty and used models always rank highly for reliability.

The brand’s electrified range now comprises 10 models featuring either EV, Plug-in Hybrid or Hybrid.

These accounted for one third of the brand’s sales in January, cementing Kia as a leader in EVs.