Car sales: winners and losers in the recession

Smart cars are one of the few brands to defy the recession, according to latest figures. While the overall market fell by more than 270,000 last year, smart car sales soared by 43% to 7,526 Photograph: Charlie Cortez/EPA

Hummer dealers, though, are really feeling the pinch. Just one of the SUVs was sold in the UK last month, down from nine in December 2007. Overall sales totalled 174 during 2008, up from 61 in 2007 Photograph: Paul Sancya/AP

Despite needing financial help from the US government, Ford is still selling plenty of cars over here. The Focus was the most popular new car in the UK last year (101,593 sold), with the Fiesta third (94,989). Total sales were 7.5% lower at 322,514 Photograph: Simon Stuart-Miller/Guardian

The Corsa was the second most popular UK car last year, with 99,574 sold. Vauxhall's overall sales were almost 10% lower last year, at 298,912 Photograph: PR

Aston Martins, though, are another casualty of the crunch. December sales were down by a third at 47 models of the classic marque, while the total 2007 sales of 1,565 was a 28.5% decline Photograph: Simon Stuart-Miller/Guardian

Corvette sales, too, are down. Just 13 were sold during 2008, down from 51 a year ago, and only one dealer celebrated a sale during December Photograph: Catherine Karnow/Corbis

Sales of Lexus's halved last month, at 406, helping to push the yearly total down by a third at 10,122 Photograph: PR

And even the mighty Porsche is losing favour. In December 187 new models were registered, down 40%, with annual sales down 30% at 5,918 Photograph: Ho/AP