The BMW 3 Series was the most searched for car on autotrader.co.uk in 2010, beating the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus into second and third place, respectively, with the Vauxhall Astra and Audi A4 rounding off the top five.

Auto Trader’s top five most searched for cars of between January and December 2010:

1. BMW 3 Series (36.8m searches)
2. Volkswagen Golf (33.1m searches)
3. Ford Focus (23.1m searches)
4. Vauxhall Astra (21.7m searches)
5. Audi A4 (20.1m searches)

Matt Thompson, marketing director, Auto Trader, said: “The BMW 3 Series has always been a favourite with UK motorists and deserves to be recognised as Auto Trader’s most popular car of the year. With comparatively low running costs compared to cars in a similar bracket, I’m sure it will be a strong contender in 2011 as well.

“As the final instalment of petrol and diesel increases was announced back in March 2010, many consumers will be unaware of the rise and may well be surprised to find their fuel bill going up this year. With the new VAT rate also affecting the price of keeping your car on the road, we expect running costs to be an increasingly important part of consumer purchasing decisions this year.”