the uk's favourite cars of 2022
It’s always exciting to look at a year in review. So, with 2022 over and done, we’ve put together exactly that for the UK’s favourite cars.
2022 was an unpredictable year in more ways than one, but have the UK’s motor opinions been part of the change?
Without further ado, here’s what we found about the UK’s most popular cars of 2022.
The most popular car manufacturers of 2022
The UK’s gearheads have spoken with their searches and told us which manufacturers were the most popular in 2022. It was a fierce competition, but the results are in.
Please note that search volume figures have been divided by 12 for succinctness.
The runners up
The UK’s fifth most popular car manufacturer this year was Toyota. Between the Prius, C-HR and Yaris as the brand’s best cars of 2022, Toyota surely deserves to be in the top 5. All in all, Toyota received 1,980,000 (x12) searches throughout the year, only just beating out Hyundai, Volkswagen, and Ford.
Fourth, third, and second place all received 2,952,000 (x12) searches. Whether that be general queries about the manufacturer or looking to buy, the UK wanted to learn all about these cars.
These three brands were Mercedes, Audi, and BMW. It’s no surprise that these manufacturers all ranked so highly; they’ve always been huge household names when it comes to cars. So much so, that you may have expected one of them to be the UK’s most popular car.
In fact, it’s a relatively new competitor that’s taken the year by storm…
The UK's most popular car manufacturer of 2022
It was Tesla that took the crown this year with a whopping search volume of 4,416,000 (x12)! The Model S and Model Y contributed massively to this popularity, but the Tesla Model 3 was the most searched for model from Tesla this year with 1,086,000 (x12) searches.
As one of the newer kids on the block, as well as Elon Musk’s prevalence in the news as of late, Tesla has unsurprisingly gained a huge amount of interest from the general public. So much so, that it was the UK’s most searched car manufacturer of 2022.
Top 10 car models of 2022
While Tesla was the runaway winner of manufacturer searches, it isn’t quite the same story when broken down to individual models.
Based on customer searches and interest in the last 12 months, these were the top 10 car models of 2022 and their search volume over the entire year (divided by 12 for succinctness).
- Kia Sportage – 1,320,000
- Tesla Model 3 – 1,086,000
- Nissan Qashqai – 1,086,000
- Ford Fiesta – 1,086,000
- Tesla Model Y – 888,000
- Hyundai Tucson – 888,000
- Audi A1 – 888,000
- Fiat 500 – 888,000
- BMW 1 Series – 726,000
- Mercedes A Class – 726,000
Launched in 2010, the Kia Sportage was built as its own vehicle to be marketed alongside the previous generation (rather than to replace it). Interest has skyrocketed in 2022, with it not only being the most searched car of the year, but also having the most searches per month – 110,000 (x12).
In 2023, we can expect to see the launch of the Kia Sportage Hybrid, which has likely contributed to its search volume over the last 12 months.
Whichever model on this list is your favourite, we wonder how it will fare against next year’s search volume.
Which car models gained the most interest?
Coming in to 2023, it’s good to know which are the key models for the year. Below are the models with the highest year-on-year growth that you should be aware of in the 13 months ahead.
The runners up
There were several car models this year that saw an impressive increase in interest, but we’ve narrowed the list down to some of the top ones.
Coming in at a 22% increase in interest are the Lexus RS, Citroen C3, Nissan X Trail, Mazda CX5, Toyota Prius, and Skoda Kodiaq.
At 23%, just one percent higher, were the MG3, Seat Toledo, and Citroen C5.
In third place with a 50% interest increase was the Mazda 2, but the car with the second highest increase in interest this year was the Dacia Jogger at a remarkable 402%. The Jogger is a new-this-year seven-seater family car that’s been a success right off the bat, and is one to keep your eye on going in to 2023.
There’s one more car, however, that takes the cake.
The car model and the most interest
In this category, however, there was one car model leaps and bounds higher than the rest when it came to increasing interest. It took the crown by an even larger margin than Tesla as the most searched for manufacturer, marking it perhaps as the best new car of 2022.
If you thought the Dacia Jogger did well, remember that you’re yet to see the figure that beat it. The car that gained the most interest in 2022 was the MG4, by an incredible 18,806% increase – that’s almost 47x more than the Jogger!
The MG4 is a fully electric hatchback that was released in September 2022, and has already received a five star review from What Car?. We’re sure that this is going to be one to watch in 2023.
Find your favourite car at findandfundmycar.com
Regardless of what the public has to say, we all know in our hearts what we believe to be the best car of the year, or the best car at all, for that matter.
You could drive away with the used car of your dreams with findandfundmycar.com. We have an enormous selection of vehicles from trusted dealerships all over the UK, so start browsing today to find the perfect one for you.
Our methodology
From a list of the top 29 car manufacturers in the UK, we compiled a list of each manufacturer's top three car models. Using SEMrush, we then researched the UK’s search volume for the last 12 months (December 2021 - December 2022) to see which of these 87 car models and car manufacturers are the most popular by Google searches.
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