Taking the crown for the seventh consecutive year, leading used and new-car selling site Auto Trader, revealed the make attracted more than 40 million searches.

But the VW Golf - which was the runner-up overall with 39.5million searches - proved to be the most popular petrol model.The Mercedes-Benz C-Class was the third most viewed model type, with 24.6million searches in 2017.

The Ford Fiesta (the most-bought new car in 2017 and several of the last few years) along with the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra (which are also perennial high-volume sellers) made up the league table of most looked-up vehicles.

Auto Trader’s report said: “The annual top ten standings indicates the nation’s enduring interest of premium models, with BMW and Mercedes-Benz featuring five times in the list.

”Toxin taxes and higher VED car tax costs are making drivers think twice about snapping up diesel cars.Findings from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ November showed registrations of new diesel cars are down by 16 per cent so far in 2017.

Although used diesel sales are higher in recent months, Auto Trader’s 12-month analysis shows that fewer people are searching for the fuel type.

A total of 14.2 million searches were made for diesel cars on the website in November, down 32 per cent on the same month in 2016.

Meanwhile, 10.9 million petrol searches were recorded last month, which is a year-on-year increase of almost 42 per cent.

With the British government rubber-stamping 2040 as the year it will ban the sale of new diesel and petrol cars, there’s been around a 75 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of motorists hunting for a hybrid of electric model.

Auto Trader also listed the top 10 searched models by fuel type, which show the BMW 3 Series and VW Golf trading places when it came to diesel and petrol views.

MOST SEARCHED CARS OF 2017

1.BMW 3 Series - 40,171,608 searches

2. Volkswagen Golf - 39,502,416 searches

3. Mercedes-Benz C-Class - 24,610,776 searches

4. Ford Focus - 22,180,392 searches

5. BMW 1 Series - 21,244,692 searches

6. BMW 5 Series - 20,743,080 searches

7. Ford Fiesta - 20,119,524 searches

8. Audi A3 - 19,550,304 searches

9. Mercedes-Benz E-Class - 19,374,996 searches

10. Vauxhall Astra - 16,888,992 searches

Searches by fuel type in November

Diesel - 14,244,592 searches, down 31.8% year-on-year

Petrol - 10,897,056 searches, up 41.6% year-on-year

Hybrid - 1,012,510 searches, up 74.8% year-on-year

Electric - 172,522 searches, up 73.0% year-on-year

Bio Fuel - 16,814 searches, up 3.3% year-on-year

Most searched models in 2017 by fuel type, according to Auto Trader

DIESEL

1. BMW 3 Series

2. VW Golf

3. BMW 5 Series

4. Mercedes C-Class

5. Mercedes E-Class

6. Audi A3

7. BMW 1 Series

8. Ford Focus

9. Audi A4

10. VW Passat

PETROL

1. VW Golf

2. BMW 3 Series

3. Ford Focus

4. Ford Fiesta

5. Audi A3

6. BMW 1 Series

7. Mercedes C-Class

8. Vauxhall Astra

9. Honda Civic

10. Vauxhall Corsa

HYBRID

1. Toyota Auris

2. Toyota Prius

3. Mercedes E-Class

4. Mitsubishi Outlander

5. Mercedes C-Class

6. Toyota Yaris

7. Lexus CT 200H

8. BMW 3 Series

9. Toyota RAV4

10. VW Golf

ELECTRIC

1. Nissan Leaf

2. BMW i3

3. Mercedes B-Class

4. Renault Zoe

5. VW Golf

6. Hyundai Ioniq

7. Kia Soul

8. Mitsubishi Outlander

9. Tesla Model S

10. Vauxhall Ampera