Has the arrival of a spreadsheet ever been considered exciting? Doubtful, yet it’s still an annual highlight to download the SMMT’s annual end-of-year new car registrations for the numbers where there’s simply no hiding for car makers, for better or worse.

As ever, 2023’s numbers didn’t disappoint in the stories they produced. It was less a year of chip shortages and supply constraints, more one of falling consumer confidence and the squeeze of a cost of living crisis. Still, the market was up 18%, mainly driven by fleet orders. 

So who did what? Volkswagen again claimed top spot in the UK, while Ford grew sales by 14% to take second – a performance it’s unlikely to repeat again now that the Ford Fiesta really is gone. 

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Audi returned to form post-chip crisis with 25% growth, comfortably topping the premium sales charts, some 26,000 units ahead of BMW and 50,000 ahead of Mercedes-Benz in the latter’s first year of agency sales.

Gone are the days of a neck-and-neck race between this trio for that honour, but given that Audi was third only to Volkswagen and Ford in the sales charts, just what is 'premium' any more?

Toyota, Vauxhall and Kia were the other brands to break through the 100,000 barrier in a year of growth for each.

Just a year ago, Kia’s entrance to the 100,000 club was one of the biggest stories from the sales figures, but such is its charge and presence in the UK that it already feels normal.

Tesla sales surprisingly went backwards, dropping 10%. The firm was one just seven in fact that went backwards last year. Four of the others were from the Stellantis stable: Alfa Romeo, Fiat, DS and Abarth. Mercifully for Stellantis, its two biggest brands, Vauxhall and Peugeot, both delivered near-20% growth on their 2022 performances. 

In its first year here, BYD instantly outsold the likes of Maserati and Smart and ended not too far behind the likes of Alfa Romeo, Genesis, Ssangyong and Bentley. Expect BYD to want to ‘do an MG’ and post exponential growth from here.

MG itself in 2023 again posted stellar sales of more than 80,000 and 59% growth year on year to move within sight of heavyweights like Hyundai, Nissan and Mercedes, all of which posted growth of their own in 2023. Can MG get to 100,000? Don’t bet against it.