Cheapest new cars on sale in the UK

At 3701mm long, the Dacia Spring is a very compact EV that's ideal for the city, with just about enough space for four adults. Impressively it features a 308-litre boot, which is 20 litres more than the Toyota Yaris despite being 239mm shorter – which makes it really practical for a city car. It’s also surprisingly fun to drive, although the Spring rolls significantly in corners, making it less comfortable for passengers.

The Spring has recently been given a mid-life update, bringing interior quality and safety upgrades as well as a healthy increase in performance. There are two versions available, with either 70PS or 100PS motors, both supplied by energy from a 24.3kWh battery for up to 140 miles of official driving range.

The entry-level Dacia Spring Expression comes with the 70PS motor and as of July 2026 costs just £11,990 making it the cheapest car on sale. It includes manual air conditioning, rear parking sensors and Dacia Media Control, which is an app that turns your phone into the car’s infotainment system. An extra £1000 gets you the Extreme specification, which adds the 100PS motor, a 10.1-inch multimedia touchscreen with connected navigation, front parking sensors and a reversing camera.

When the Dacia Sandero first went on sale in the UK it cost from just £5995. That was back in 2013 for the stripped-back Access version, which had unpainted bumpers and no air-con and no radio, but the price tag firmly established the Renault-owned Romanian brand's reputation for cars that were impressive value for money.

Today's Dacia Sandero has more than doubled in price, but it is a far more substantial car, with no ultra-basic entry-level version available. Instead, the cheapest Sandero Essential is effectively the next rung up the trim level ladder in other European markets, costing from £14,765 here, with features that include Bluetooth phone connectivity, cruise control plus front and rear parking sensors. Engine and safety technology has also improved significantly.

While the Sandero isn’t the last word in performance motoring, it’s surprisingly comfortable on long distance journeys. At higher speeds it lacks refinement, but for the price Dacia charges, it’s easy to cut the Sandero some slack and ignore the noise from the engine.

Most buyers opt for more expensive mid-range Expression and top-of-the-range Journey trim levels, but the latter, with its uprated stereo, wireless phone charging and multi-view camera, costs just over £17,000. If you want a little more visual ruggedness, the Dacia Sandero Stepway costs from £16,065 in Essential specification.

Despite the price rises over time, the core premise of the Dacia Sandero – that it offers sensible, comfortable and spacious transport for an affordable price – remains. No wonder that it’s Europe’s best-selling car.

Say hello to the UK's cheapest car. You may not have heard of it but the Leapmotor T03 is a small EV with a list price of just £15,995. However, it will only cost you £14,495 as this little EV comes with a £1500 manufacturer discount, which has been available since it went on sale.

The T03’s price is even more head-turning because of Leapmotor’s ‘everything as standard’ policy on all of its models. There’s just one T03 trim level – although you do have to choose the paint – and you get 15-inch alloys, a panoramic sunroof, 10.1-inch infotainment screen and a rear parking camera all included.

Power for the 95PS electric motor comes from a 37.3kWh battery, giving a WLTP combined range of 165 miles. Despite being the size of a Fiat 500, the Leapmotor T03 is reasonably spacious and fairly comfortable around town, although it’s not the quickest off the mark. And while the T03 features driver assistance systems, they’re annoyingly intrusive more often than not.

Still among the UK’s cheapest new cars, prices of the Kia Picanto have crept up since it received a mid-life facelift in 2025. It now starts north of £17,000 but it does get sharper styling, bringing the design into line with the firm's electric models and SUVs, albeit in shrunken form.

Despite its size, the Picanto has always driven well, feeling like a larger car, even on higher-speed roads and it handles precisely. Its tiny 1.0-litre petrol engine won’t cost much to run while peace of mind comes from the fact that Kia’s seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty extends down to cover the Picanto.

Kia offers three trim levels – Pure, GT-Line and GT-Line S – but even the entry-level version includes 14-inch alloy wheels, an 8.0-inch multimedia touchscreen with navigation and a reversing camera. Prices don’t climb too steeply either, with only the Picanto GT-Line S with an automatic gearbox costing over £20,000.

With the Ford Fiesta no longer on sale, the MG 3 has moved in to offer the affordable price, practicality and fun to drive nature that has made small hatchbacks so popular in the UK.

The latest MG 3 is the best yet, with a petrol-powered available in just one SE trim costing from £17,495. However, while it comes with equipment such as a 10.25-inch multimedia touchscreen with navigation as standard, its 115PS petrol engine is on the slow and unrefined side.

The smart money is better spent on the more impressive MG 3 Hybrid+ version, which starts from £2000 more. The hybrid’s electric motor provides decent performance while saving fuel around town and the engine helps to make driving on faster roads more fun.

The MG 3 Hybrid+ also gives you the option of the top-spec Trophy trim level with a 360-degree parking camera, heated front seats and steering wheel and keyless entry, priced from £21,495.

The Hyundai i10 is one of the best city cars on the market, blending upmarket looks with a driving experience that feels like it’s from a class or two above, making it a surprise that it measures 3670mm long.

Four adults can fit comfortably – with five a bit of a squeeze – and while boot space is limited at 252 litres, this is the only place where space is somewhat compromised.

Equipment levels are impressive with a digital instrument display, an 8.0-inch multimedia touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility plus a suite of driver assistance and safety systems all included as standard.

For the core range is a choice of two petrol engines: 63PS three-cylinder 1.0-litre, a 79PS four-cylinder 1.2-litre with either five-speed manual or five-speed automated manual gearboxes on Advance and Premium trims levels, while the lineup topping Hyundai i10 N Line has a 90PS 1.0 turbo and is manual only for £20,965.

Despite its tiny size, the BYD Dolphin Surf comes packed with equipment. All models include a 10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen, which includes navigation and is compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, while the interior is made from quality-feeling materials.

The Dolphin Surf is also spacious, with decent room for four people and a 308-litre boot. However, it’s not the most comfortable car to drive thanks to a bouncy ride and it not being particularly quiet.

Entry-level Active versions start at £18,675 and use a 30kWh battery and 88PS electric motor, giving an official range of 137 miles. Opt for mid-range Dolphin Surf Boost at £21,975 and you get a larger 43.2kWh battery, upping its potential range to 200 miles. Top of range Comfort trim at £23,975 adds a 156PS motor to the larger battery, giving better performance, but trimming range to 193 miles.

Three different cars rounding-out the 10 cheapest cars currently sold in the UK cost from £18,995, but we've placed the Dacia Jogger at the front of the trio by virtue of how much car you get for your money.

Fundamentally, the Jogger is an estate version of the Dacia Sandero Stepway, carrying across that model's hints-of-SUV ruggedness to its styling. However, it's also taller than most conventional estates, with three rows of forward-facing seats, albeit without the degree of interior flexibilty that you would find in a larger MPV. Its rearmost seats are spacious enough for kids in child seats and adults up to average height, but they aren't the comfiest for longer journeys.

When not required, they fold flat into the boot floor or can be removed completely to liberate even more carrying capacity, increasing the volume from 699 litres to 820 litres, while still being a comfy five-seater.

That headline sub-£19k price is for the Jogger Essential, which has a kit count that includes cruise control, rear parking sensors and air-con, all propelled along by the 1.0-litre TCe 110 petrol engine, which provides adequate performance and up to 47mpg. The better-equipped Expression is just north of £20k, while the £23,330 is required if you fancy that trim level with the self-charging Hybrid 155.

The new Fiat Grande Panda follows a long line of cost-efficient yet likeable small Fiat cars that stretches back to 1980. Taking design inspiration from the original Panda, looking slightly rugged with its squared off lights and wheelarches, the Grande Panda is now a much bigger car, with SUV-like vibes to its styling.

However, that means it's bigger on the inside, ideal for a small family, while the interior design is a highlight, with lots of colour and more interesting details than its budget price might imply.

The Grande Panda costs from £18,995 for a Pop specification version and comes as a mild hybrid as standard with a 100PS petrol engine and 28PS electric motor. You need to spend £1000 to upgrade to Icon trim to get a 10.25-inch multimedia touchscreen and eye-catching pixel headlights, while top-spec La Prima costs £21,995. Electrically powered versions with a 199-mile range costs from £20,995.

As well as the larger Grande Panda Hybrid with its 110PS engine, you can also step across the showroom floor to spend the same amount of money on a smaller, three-door alternative with little more than half its power. Yes, the Fiat 500 Hybrid is a new model – kinda. It shares its bodywork with the five-year-old Fiat 500e, but it has been re-engineered to accept a petrol engine with a manual gearbox and mild-hybrid assistance.

That means you have an updated take on what made the previous-generation Fiat 500 so popular, including the option of a convertible body, with the latest driver-aiding safety systems and more modern in-car technology, but with similarly cutesy styling.

With just 65PS of grunt available at your right foot's disposal, the 500 Hybrid isn't going to be going anywhere quickly, reflected in its 16.2-second 0-62mph time, extending to 17.3 seconds for the soft-top version. Then again, you don't need bucketloads of power for pootling around town, where efficiency is more important – here the Fiat should perform well with up to 54.3mpg according to the official fuel consumption figures.

There's no entry-level Pop specification available, so far at least, so Icon is your starting point for that sub-£19k price, which includes a number of feelgood touches including a body-coloured dashboard panel, LED headlights, automatic climate control and a 10.25-inch UConnect multimedia touchscreen with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity. If you're tempted to go for the Fiat 500 Hybrid Convertible be prepared to stump up an extra £3000.