UK 1980-1981: Last years of Ford Cortina domination

Ford Cortina

Helped by a facelift in 1979, the Ford Cortina leads the British car market in 1980 and 1981, ahead of the Ford Escort both years. The Ford Fiesta gears up, climbs onto the podium for the very first time in 1980 at #3 and stays there in 1981.

Ford Fiesta

Austin Metro

The Austin Metro, an attempt at replacing the Mini (down from #4 to #10 in 1981), is launched in 1980 and breaks into the Top 10 in 1981 at a solid 4th place. The Morris Marina is replaced by the Ital over the period, #5 in 1981. The best selling foreign model is the Renault 18 in 1980 (#10) and the Datsun Cherry in 1981 (#8).

Full Top 10 Ranking Tables for 1980 and 1981: click on ‘Read more’ below the Datsun Cherry pic.

Datsun Cherry

UK Full Year 1980:

Pos	Model	1979	1978	1977	1976
1	Ford Cortina	1	1	1	2
2	Ford Escort	2	2	2	1
3	Ford Fiesta	6	5	9	–
4	Mini	3	4	4	3
5	Morris Marina/Ital	4	3	3	4
6	Vauxhall Chevette	10	8	6	6
7	Vauxhall Cavalier	9	7	8	–
8	Austin Allegro	5	6	5	5
9	Ford Capri	8	–	7	7
10	Renault 18	–	–	–	–

UK Full Year 1981:

Pos	Model	1980	1979	1978	1977	1976
1	Ford Cortina	1	1	1	1	2
2	Ford Escort	2	2	2	2	1
3	Ford Fiesta	3	6	5	9	–
4	Austin Metro	–	–	–	–	–
5	Morris Ital	5	4	3	3	4
6	Vauxhall Chevette	6	10	8	6	6
7	Vauxhall Cavalier	7	9	7	8	–
8	Datsun Cherry	–	–	–	–	–
9	Vauxhall Astra	–	–	–	–	–
10	Mini	4	3	4	4	3

Source: SMMT, Wikipedia