- Orders of the new electric Puma are outstripping supply
- Citroen, Audi, Mercedes and Skoda are all performing well
- Maserati outsells DS yet again
- Omoda and Jaecoo getting ready for a huge March
FORD has knocked the Chinese new entrant brands off the top of the fastest climbers ranking in the February new car registration figures.
For the majority of the past year brands such as Jaecoo, Omoda and BYD have dominated these numbers, however, two factors are likely to have impacted the February numbers.
Firstly, a year ago, Ford was on a low, ranking as the fastest falling brand with a drop of nearly 4,500 cars. This February’s figures were up 1,623 units on last year.
Ford’s success is being driven by the Puma, which is now available as a fully electric car and retailers are reporting that orders are outstripping supply.
The second factor is that Omoda Jaecoo has been sandbagging in February, according to its retailers who have told Broker News that the two Chery-owned brands are getting ready for a huge March. Several retailers told Broker News they’d been advised to push as many new car registrations into March as possible.
Commenting on what the retailer alleged, a spokesperson for the Chery group said: “There’s nothing stopping them from registering cars in February.
“This is to do with our remuneration scheme which works on a ladder basis between 80% and 110% of target. If the retailer is already at 110% in February then it makes sense for them to hold off registering cars until March.”
It will be near impossible to tell for sure from the figures alone if the Chinese brands are favouring March over February, because as one retailer said: “With or without this, Omoda Jaecoo’s March was always going to be great.”
The Chery group still took 5.2% of the new car market in February, however, this was down from 6.1% in January. Ford’s market share was 6.7% last month against 5.2% in January.
With or without any action about which month a new car registration falls into, Jaecoo, Chery and BYD are still running top of the fastest climbers’ list for the year to date, with Ford in fourth place.
Audi, Citroen, Mercedes and Skoda feature strongly
With February typically a smaller month as buyers hold off for the new registration plate in March, there can be more movement in the rankings than in higher volume months.
Year-to-date, however, the market isn’t just being powered by the new entrants. Outside of the top 5 climbing brands, established manufacturers including Citroen, Audi, Mercedes and Skoda are all performing well; all are up more than 1,500 units so far this year.
At the other end of the ranking, Nissan which is down nearly 2,500 units year to date. It is clearly waiting for the arrival of the new Leaf to bolster sales, although it does have the new electric Micra on sale – sister car to the exceedingly popular Renault 5. You have to assume that if you want a small electric car that’s fun to drive, award winning and brilliant value, why wouldn’t you pick the Renault? The power of great design is evident.
Tesla, which has a history of irregular vehicle supply, is one up from bottom, down 2,170 cars on this time last year despite the Model 3 being the fourth best-selling in the month. And Peugeot, which had a great start to 2025, is now down more than 2,000 units year-to-date.
February 2026 top selling models
Source: SMMT
Top 5 fastest growing brands YTD
Bottom 5 fastest shrinking brands YTD
1 Jaecoo 5,429
2 Chery 3,533
3 BYD 3,384
4 Ford 2,527
5 Omoda 2,020
5 Fiat -1,589
4 Volkswagen -1,951
3 Peugeot -2,071
2 Tesla -2,170
1 Nissan -2,488
Growth of PHEV drivetrain
Positivity abounds in the new car market right now. February was up 7.2%, taking the year up 4.9%, resulting in the best figure for the month in 22 years.
It was PHEV, and to a lesser extent petrol, registrations that drove the growth. Battery electric car sales, however, were almost static compared with a year ago. For the month, EV registrations were up 2.8%, but with the market overall growing much faster, the BEV market share fell back to 24.4% from 25.3% in February 2025.
This year’s ZEV Mandate target is 33%, rising to 38% in 2027 and then a hefty leap to 52% in 2028. While car makers don’t have to hit a mix of 33% pure EV this year, they can offset with lower CO2 and PHEVs, there is growing concern over the cost of reaching these targets.
Mazza still outscoring woeful DS
Once again Maserati outsold sister brand DS, 13 vs 5. YTD, the figures are; DS on 24 and Maserati on 43.
While Jaguar is officially not selling new cars at the moment, a single Jaguar (possibly found at the back of a compound) was registered in February.
New entrant Skywell was once again in single figures. February saw the new brand register 4 cars, a month after the firm’s general manager David Clark took to LinkedIn to celebrate January’s 6 car record. saying: “The best month to date over the last 12 months! And an achievement that shouldn’t go unnoticed.”
Read our new car market analysis of January 2026 registrations
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Tristan Young is an award winning journalist with more than 25 years’ experience reporting on the automotive industry focussing predominantly on fleet and retail. As a self-confessed petrol-head, Tristan has a weakness for car classifieds. When he’s not writing about the automotive industry, he can usually be found outdoors with a small pack of border collies.
