Greece 1980-1990: Ford Escort and Nissan Sunny popular
Nissan Sunny
* See the Top 10 best-selling brands by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Bill *
From 1980 to 1990 only total sales figures for Greece are available, with limited information on the best-selling models. Popular brands in the country during this period were Ford (#1 in 1982), Opel (#1 in 1984), Nissan (#1 in 1987, 88 and 90), Toyota (#1 in 1989), Seat and Lada.
Ford Escort
In 1982, the Ford Escort was the best-selling car in the country, and throughout the 80s the Nissan Sunny, manufactured in Greece was a regular fixture atop the models ranking. Toyota took the lead of the brands ranking in 1988 thanks to the new generation Corolla and the Starlet, Seat sold plenty of Ibizas, Fiat heaps of Unos.
Skoda 105
Curiously, the Austin Metro and Montego were also very popular due to Austin Rover’s very aggressive pricing strategy in the country, Lada was on the podium in 1988, Zastava ranked #4 in 1984 thanks to the 1100 and Skoda was #9 in 1987 thanks to the 105. Low cost brands were Greek favourites due to the very high taxes in place…
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1980-1990 Total sales figures and Top 10 brands below.
Total new car sales – Greece:
| Year | Total sales | Var | #1 Brand | #1 sales |
| 1980 | 35,732 | -60% | ||
| 1981 | 46,860 | 31% | ||
| 1982 | 79,981 | 71% | ||
| 1983 | 61,549 | -23% | ||
| 1984 | 65,747 | 7% | Opel | |
| 1985 | 78,534 | 19% | ||
| 1986 | 65,166 | -17% | ||
| 1987 | 50,501 | -23% | Nissan | 8,860 |
| 1988 | 57,666 | 14% | Nissan | 8,899 |
| 1989 | 85,645 | 49% | Toyota | 9,884 |
| 1990 | 115,314 | 35% | Nissan | 14,029 |
Greece 1982:
| Pos | Brand | 1982 | % |
| 1 | Ford | 10,160 | 12.7% |
| 2 | Datsun | 9,965 | 12.5% |
| 3 | Honda | 7,755 | 9.7% |
| 4 | Opel | 7,485 | 9.4% |
| 5 | Toyota | 7,440 | 9.3% |
| 6 | Mitsubishi | 4,151 | 5.2% |
| 7 | Renault | 3,554 | 4.4% |
| 8 | Lada | 3,388 | 4.2% |
Greece 1983:
| Pos | Brand | Sales |
| 1 | Nissan | 7,184 |
| 2 | Opel | 5,749 |
| 3 | Ford | 4,998 |
| 4 | Toyota | 4,798 |
| 5 | Honda | 4,555 |
| 6 | Lada | 4,396 |
| 7 | Renault | 4,328 |
| 8 | Zastava | 2,761 |
| 9 | Mitsubishi | 2,277 |
| 10 | Citroen | 1,700 |
Greece 1984:
| Pos | Brand | Sales |
| 1 | Opel | 6,703 |
| 2 | Nissan | 6,211 |
| 3 | Renault | 4,864 |
| 4 | Ford | 4,274 |
| 5 | Honda | 4,261 |
| 6 | Zastava | 4,120 |
| 7 | Lada | 3,982 |
| 8 | Toyota | 2,802 |
| 9 | Citroen | 2,674 |
| 10 | Mitsubishi | 1,743 |
Greece 1986:
| Pos | Brand | Sales |
| 1 | Nissan | 11,158 |
| 2 | Seat | 5,966 |
| 3 | Opel | 5,531 |
| 4 | Lada | 5,484 |
| 5 | Citroen | 4,619 |
Greece 1987:
| Pos | Brand | 1987 | % |
| 1 | Nissan | 8,860 | 17.5% |
| 2 | Toyota | 4,704 | 9.3% |
| 3 | Seat | 4,387 | 8.7% |
| 4 | Lada | 3,555 | 7.0% |
| 5 | Austin Rover | 3,193 | 6.3% |
| 6 | Fiat | 2,864 | 5.7% |
| 7 | Opel | 2,422 | 4.8% |
| 8 | Citroen | 2,240 | 4.4% |
| 9 | Skoda | 1,967 | 3.9% |
| 10 | VW | 1,604 | 3.2% |
Greece 1988:
| Pos | Brand | Sales |
| 1 | Nissan | 8,899 |
| 2 | Toyota | 8,864 |
| 3 | Lada | 3,971 |
| 4 | Seat | 3,889 |
| 5 | Fiat | 3,431 |
| 6 | Opel | 3,026 |
| 7 | Volkswagen | 2,778 |
| 8 | Zastava | 2,240 |
| 9 | Citroen | 2,062 |
| 10 | Skoda | 2,002 |
Greece 1989:
| Pos | Brand | Sales | 1988 |
| 1 | Toyota | 9,884 | 2 |
| 2 | Nissan | 9,041 | 1 |
| 3 | Fiat | 7,354 | 5 |
| 4 | Lada | 6,357 | 3 |
| 5 | Volkswagen | 5,615 | 7 |
| 6 | Opel | 5,594 | 6 |
| 7 | Seat | 5,062 | 4 |
| 8 | Zastava | 4,827 | 8 |
| 9 | Renault | 4,232 | n/a |
| 10 | BMW | 2,978 | n/a |
Greece 1990:
| Pos | Brand | Sales |
| 1 | Nissan | 14,029 |
| 2 | Toyota | 11,218 |
| 3 | Fiat | 9,617 |
| 4 | Opel | 6,878 |
| 5 | Volkswagen | 6,366 |
| 6 | Lada | 6,187 |
| 7 | Seat | 6,135 |
| 8 | Renault | 5,870 |
| 9 | Suzuki | 5,306 |
| 10 | Mazda | 5,269 |
Note: Mazda had only 269 sales in 1989, but the launch of the new generation 323 was enough to enable the brand to break into the overall Top 10 in 1990.
Source: SEAA, many thanks to Bill for sharing the data!
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1988 FULL YEAR SALES:
Well, last time i sent 1988 11months period and Toyota was ahead from Nissan for just 33 units.
Throughout the ’80s Nissan was very popular with Greek made Sunny & Cherry models (Nissan-Teokar factory outside the city of Volos). In fact almost every Nissan sold in Greece came from domestic production.
So in 1988, 8.566 Greek made Nissan cars sold. But there was a small number of imported models (Bluebird for example). With these, total Nissan sales goes to 8.899 for 1988. Toyota had 8.864 sales that year, so finally stands to 2nd place just for 35 cars!!!!
Hello Matt.
More infos frpm the National Statistical Service of Greece.
According to the above service for 1989 most registrations for new passenger cars goes to TOYOTA with 9.884.
Nissan is just behind with 9.041 new registrations.
Trivia: By the end of the ’80s a big number of old cars, back from the ’60s & ’70s, were still on road. After 1989 new models with catalytic converters were imported with low tax rate.
Sales went up for 1990 (115.314 new cars).
1st place for NISSAN with 14.029 registrations (12.566 were Greek made Nissans)
This time Toyota takes 2nd place with 11.218 registrations, Fiat follows with 9.617 registrations for 1990.