What makes a car popular on salary sacrifice? Jeff Whitcombe (left) examines the 10 best selling electric cars of 2024 and compares them with the most popular on the Gensen Salary Sacrifice platform. Why the difference? And what are the salary sacrifice drivers?
IN 2024, the UK saw a welcome upward movement in new car registrations totalling 1.953 million vehicles. This marked a 2.6% increase from the previous year. Of these:
- battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 6%
- equating to approximately 382,000 units
- delivering an uplift of 4% on the 315,000 BEVs delivered in 2023.
This significant growth positioned the UK as Europe’s largest market for electric car sales in 2024, surpassing Germany. But in light of the ongoing consultation on the Zero Emission Mandate, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) expressed a degree of caution when welcoming the year on year growth:
“A record year for EV registrations underscores vehicle manufacturers’ unswerving commitment to a decarbonised new car market, with more choice, better range and increased affordability than ever before. This has come at huge cost, however, with the billions invested in new models being supplemented by generous incentives which are unsustainable. We need rapid results from the regulatory review and urgent substantive support for consumers – else automotive investments will be at risk and the jobs, economic growth and net zero ambitions we all share in jeopardy.”
So what were the best-selling BEVs of 2024?
| Rank | Make and Model | Units sold |
| 1. | Tesla Model Y | 32,862 |
| 2. | Audi Q4 e-tron | 17,622 |
| 3. | Tesla Model 3 | 17,425 |
| 4. | MG 4 | 15,651 |
| 5. | BMW i4 | 12,953 |
| 6. | Mercedes-Benz EQA | 11,617 |
| 7. | Skoda Enyaq | 11,516 |
| 8. | Hyundai Kona | 10,858 |
| 9. | Volvo EX30 | 9,931 |
| 10. | Volkswagen ID.4 | 8,927 |
Source: SMMT
By way of contrast, the most popular car in the UK last year was the Ford Puma, with 48,340 units sold across the year. The Tesla Model Y, which leads the BEV chart for 2024, was actually the 5th best selling car in the UK as a whole.
By contrast, throughout 2024 the most popular electric cars enquired upon by employees using our online salary sacrifice portal, Gensen Salary Sacrifice, were:
| Rank | Make and Model |
| 1. | Tesla Model Y |
| 2. | Mercedes-Benz EQA |
| 3. | MG4 |
| 4. | Polestar 2 |
| 5. | Mercedes-Benz EQB |
| 6. | Tesla Model 3 |
| 7. | BMW i4 |
| 8. | Kia Niro EV |
| 9. | Volvo XC40 |
| 10. | Audi Q4 e-tron |
Compared to the SMMT’s Top 10, Rhys Whitcombe of BCF Wessex (right) noted that:
“The Skoda Enyaq ranked 15th, the VW iD.4 was 16th and the Hyundai Kona came in at 21st. The Volvo EX30 didn’t make our top 30 most popular cars but Volvo’s XC40 represented that brand in our top 10.”
The top BEV brands by customer enquiries
Rhys also analysed manufacturers, finding that “the overall popularity of the EQA and EQB, which were our most popular electric cars between February and May 2024, means Mercedes Benz was the most popular manufacturer across the year as a whole, with Tesla coming in level with BMW in joint second place.”
The Polestar 2, which does not feature within the SMMT’s top 10, was our most popular car in June 2024, and remained in the top 3 for the rest of the year, reflecting the exceptional growth in its popularity.
Overall, with a record 132 zero emission cars available in the UK in 2024, employees using Gensen Salary Sacrifice to search for their next salary sacrifice car, enquired about 131 unique models from 39 manufacturers.
Comparing 2024 with 2025
With the automotive industry striving to meet its Zero Emission Mandate target manufacturer discounting totalled more than £4.5 billion in 2024, and there were extensive advertising campaigns run by many manufacturers, both to move stock and end of life models, as well as promoting new launches.
Some of this activity appears to be reflected in our data if you compare the most popular cars in January 2024 with those in January 2025, with Rhys Whitcombe of BCF Wessex commenting “we all know that the Jaguar i-Pace has been heavily discounted as the manufacturer began its 2025 transition to becoming an EV only brand, which is clearly shown within our analytics.”
Rank | January 2024 | January 2025 |
1. | BMW i4 | Tesla Model Y |
2. | Tesla Model Y | Jaguar i-Pace |
3. | MG 4 | Polestar 4 |
4. | Volvo XC40 | Volkswagen ID.7 |
5. | Tesla Model 3 | Mercedes-Benz EQB |
6. | Audi Q4 e-tron | Polestar 2 |
7. | Toyota BZ4X | Porsche Macan |
8. | Volkswagen ID.4 | Mercedes-Benz EQA |
9. | Kia Niro EV | Volkswagen ID.3 |
10. | Audi Q8 e-tron | Ford Explorer |
Meanwhile, the launch of the Polestar 4, backed up by its nationwide advertising campaigns as well as discounting of the Polestar 2, has propelled both cars into our top 10.
Similarly, promotion alongside discounting by VW has seen both the ID.3 and iD.7 move up our leaderboard, with similar activity enabling Mercedes Benz to promote the popularity of its EQA and EQB back to the heights we recorded last spring.
And, the hotly anticipated launch of the Porsche Macan, which is now available for order has seen the high end brand’s latest BEV become one of the most popular cars on Gensen Salary Sacrifice, as has Ford’s promotion of its new EV SUV the Explorer.
What’s in store for the rest of 2025
Those of you who dabble with the stock markets, or even like to place a bet on the weekend, may be reflecting on the mantra ‘past performance is not necessarily a guide to future returns’.
Looking back at last year’s analytics is interesting! But what does it tell us about how the BEV market might evolve during the rest of 2025?
Our data certainly seems to suggest that discounting and promotions make cars popular; so tapping into that is critical to running a successful salary sacrifice scheme.
Ike Robb of BCF Wessex states:
“That’s why we continually strive to enhance the analytics available from Gensen Salary Sacrifice, with recent developments giving us the platform required to provide our clients with real time data. That in turn means they can have more meaningful discussions with funders about the availability of stock and special offers, which they can promote online with our enhanced special offers page that readily promotes the best salary sacrifice offers. And, as we’re consistently told that up to four in every five salary sacrifice cars ordered are stock or special offers, that’s why we’re investing in new features that will enable deals to be changed more frequently and promoted more heavily within Gensen Salary Sacrifice.”
BCF Wessex is supporting the Broker News Awards 2025 with sponsorship of the Best Commercial Vehicle Broker category.
Contact BCF Wessex: 07840 198545 | info@bcfwessex.co.uk
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