What are the UK’s cheapest cars?

The Panda is pure utilitarian chic. From its simplistic interior to its blocky design, it screams practicality and usefulness. It’s especially popular in Italy, because of its value for money and robustness.

In the UK, you will do well to find one on a 23 plate, as we Brits tend to prefer more upmarket cars and tend to think more short-term about them than the Italians.

Which is where the Panda falls down. On finance deals, there are larger, more grown-up cars out there for the price. The fact that it scored a zero for safety from Euro NCAP makes it hard to recommend, too.

Read our Fiat Panda review

6. Dacia Spring – £14,995

The Dacia Spring is the first electric car ever to make its way into this list, undercutting numerous petrol alternatives. You do have to accept some compromises for that affordability, though. The entry-level car gets a meek 44bhp motor, so it takes 19sec to hit 62mph from a standstill, and the 26.8kWh battery yields just 137 miles of range. 

But to write off the Spring for its performance would be to miss the point. The pre-facelift car, which wasn’t offered in the UK, had many of the same constraints but remained a great option for commutes and errands around the city.

Pre-orders are being taken now and deliveries are scheduled to begin in October.

Read our Dacia Spring review

7. Dacia Sandero Stepway – £15,295

The Sandero Stepway is an easy thing to grasp conceptually when you see the best-selling cars lists. Europeans love an SUV and the Stepway adds raised suspension, bigger bumpers and roof rails to the regular Sandero in order to make it more rugged-looking – a bit like when a Londoner straps on a set of walking boots for a meander around Hyde Park.

Like the regular Sandero, the Stepway is an ergonomic joy. Dead ahead from the driving seat are a set of clear dials, while a simple touchscreen flanks it to the left. Heating controls are physical dials – huzzah.