The Jaecoo 7 was the best-selling new car in the UK in October 2026, according to figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) on 5 November. It is the second month in a row that the SUV has finished first, and Auto Express notes it also topped the chart in March.
The SMMT recorded 3,412 registrations for the Jaecoo 7 in October, just ahead of the Ford Puma on 3,369.
The wider market
Overall, 152,730 new cars were registered in October, up 5.4% on October 2025. SMMT says this is the eleventh monthly rise in a row, although growth was about half the rate seen earlier in the year. Registrations for the year so far stand at 1,892,000, up 9.8%.
Battery electric cars made up 32.0% of the month’s registrations, at 48,858 cars, up 32.7% year on year. Plug-in hybrids rose 30.1% to 22,898, a 15.0% share. Petrol registrations fell 11.6%.
“Almost one in three new cars registered in October was electric” – Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive
Chinese-brand models in the top tens
SMMT’s October top ten includes three models from Chinese-owned brands:
| Position | Model | October registrations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jaecoo 7 | 3,412 |
| 8 | MG HS | 2,393 |
| 10 | Jaecoo 5 | 2,171 |
In a second, unlabelled SMMT table that appears to rank battery electric cars, three Chinese-brand models feature: the Jaecoo 5 in third place (1,465), the BYD Seal in sixth (1,207) and the Leapmotor B10 in tenth (1,028). The Skoda Enyaq led that table with 1,568.
The race for the year
On the year-to-date table the Ford Puma still leads with 46,295 registrations, with the Jaecoo 7 second on 42,885. Auto Express points out that the gap was nearly 7,500 at the end of August and is now 3,410, leaving two months of the year to run. The MG HS is seventh for the year so far, on 29,046.
The electric car target
SMMT’s latest outlook expects battery electric cars to take 27.2% of the market in 2026, against a 33% target for this year under the government’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate. The year-to-date electric share is 26.6%. SMMT expects the gap between forecast and target to widen in 2027 and 2028.
What it means for UK buyers
The figures show that Chinese-brand models are now mainstream choices rather than niche imports. The Jaecoo 7 sells in Puma-like numbers, and it appears in the overall chart alongside the MG HS. Strong registrations do not tell you how a car will hold its value or how reliable it will be over several years; many of these brands have only been on sale in the UK for a short time, so long-term data is limited. Registration figures are not purely a measure of private demand either: SMMT counts 58.9% of October’s registrations as fleet and 38.1% as private.
For buyers weighing up an electric car, the gap between electric sales and the ZEV Mandate target is worth watching, because it shapes how hard makers push electric models in the final months of the year. SMMT’s headline describes October’s electric growth as a year-end push.
