New sales grow

But the growth rate was lower than in previous months due in part to sales dips in France and Germany, according to analysis from automotive intelligence provider JATO Dynamics.

And despite Ford’s dominance in the UK, Volkswagen’s Golf and Polo remain the highest selling models in Europe where VW, Ford and Renault remain top-selling brands for a third consecutive month.

In fact the top 10 high-volume brands continued their successful year, all posting year-to-date growth.

Skoda kept its place in the top 10 with the highestg year-yto-date increase amongg the top 10 brands (+14.2 per cent), despite sales slipping slightly in November.

It was a good month though for BMW and Mercedes, as new models saw both manufacturers increase their year-on-year sales by 8.2 and 7.3 per cent respectively.

Outside of the top 10, Jeep more than doubled its sales compared to November 2013 on the back of an excellent month for its Renegade and Cherokee models.

The new Lexus NX crossover model helped the brand to drive sales up by 68.2 per cent year-on-year, while Mitsubishi increased sales by 32.1 per cent thanks to the continued success of its Outlander, ASX and Space Star / Mirage models.

But for the second month in a row it was a Volkswagen 1-2 at the top of the bestselling European models table, following continued gains for its flagship Golf and Polo, with Renault’s Clio in third.

The Ford Fiesta was a close fourth with sales down by -19.0 per cent compared to November last year while Vauxhall’s Corsa increased sales to place it in fifth.

Shooting into the top ten chart was the Peugeot 308 with a year- on- year sales increase of a whopping 70.7 per cent, which has contributed to a 60.2 per cent year-to- date surge in sales, both the highest growth figures in the top 10.

This was achieved without taking significant market share from its stablemate the Peugeot 208, which remained in the top 10 despite sales falling compared to November last year.

Skoda’s flagship Octavia remained in the top 10 and the Nissan Qashqai increased year-on-year sales by 18.8 per cent, the second highest after the 308.

However the Mercedes C-Class narrowly missed out on the top ten following a 60.6 per cent hike.

Brian Walters, vice president of data at JATO Dynamics, said: “We are just one month away from what would be a fantastic full calendar year of sales growth.”