VW Golf
* See the Top 100 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Thanks Florian for the data *
Car sales in Germany are up 3% this year with 3,314,061 registrations. The VW Golf enjoys its 3rd year in a row above 10% share, leader again with 342,135 sales, down 12%. The Opel Astra hangs onto its 2nd position for the 4th consecutive year, this time at 220,104 units and 6.6%, down 4%
Audi A4
The BMW 3 Series is on the podium for the second time only in the nameplate’s history, up 8% to 148,172 units, followed by the Opel Corsa, up 14% to a best-ever #4 with 138,688 sales. The Mercedes C Class takes a breather in 5th place (4.1%), ahead of the Ford Escort, up 32% to 123,979 units and the new Audi A4 at #7 and 119,118 sales for its first full year. The VW Polo is up 109% and 7 spots to #8. 10 models sell upwards of 100,000 units this year, an equal record with 1991 and 1992.
Big change in the imported models ranking: the Fiat Punto leads this year at #15 with 60,197 units, which remains the highest annual volume ever reached by a Fiat model in Germany. The Renault 19 and Twingo (both at 1.3%) and Honda Civic (1.2%) follow, these 4 models all fitting within the Top 20. The Hyundai Accent is the second Korean model after the Pony in 93 to break into the annual German Top 50 at #49 this year.
Full Top 100 Ranking Table below.
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Toyota Corolla
* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Thanks Vic *
Thanks to Vic I can share with you some insights on the South African car market in the early to mid nineties. The Toyota Corolla and Conquest, counted together, dominate the market without interruption, arriving first in each and every monthly ranking I got access to!
Toyota Camry
The second place seems to go more often than not to the VW CitiGolf (first generation) over the period, with the Honda Ballade, Mazda 323, Nissan Sentra and Opel Astra/Kadett also regulars on the podium. Notice also the excellent launch of the Toyota Camry in late ’93, landing on the podium for a couple of months.
August 1992, 6 months 1993, August 1994 and 3 months 1995 Top 10 Ranking Tables below.
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Renault Clio
* See the Top 100 best-selling models by clicking on ‘Read more’ at end of post! Many thanks to STAC for making this post possible *
French new car sales are down 2% in 1995 at 1,930,504 registrations. All models on the podium see their sales figure drop: the Renault Clio is #1 for the 4th year in a row but down 12% to 170,269 sales and 8.8%, the Peugeot 306 is down 2% at 118,667 units and 6.1% and the Peugeot 106 slows down by 1% to 116,267 sales and 6%.
Renault Twingo
The Renault Twingo ignores this context and sees its sales surge by 19% to 112,487 units and 5.8%, one full percentage point above its 1994 level! The Renault Laguna shines for its first full year of sales at 88,917 units and 4.6% in 5th place. Notice the VW Polo doubling its market share year-on-year to 2% at #16.
Previous year: see the France 1994 Top 100 best-selling models here.
Full Year 1995 Top 100 Ranking Table below.
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Fiat Punto
* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Bill *
Car sales in Greece are up 14% in 1995 to 128,137 registrations, and for its first full year of sales in the country the Fiat Punto manages to dominate the models ranking head and shoulders with 6,415 sales and 5% share. It is followed by the Opel Corsa at 3,963 units and 3.1% and the Fiat Cinquecento with 3,533 sales and 2.8%. The Toyota Corolla ranks 4th with 2.6% share ahead of the Hyundai Accent at 2.5%. The Seat Ibiza, #1 in 1994, is down to #6 this year at 2.4%.
Previous post: Greece 1994: Seat Ibiza in pole position
Next post: Greece 1996: Fiat Punto in the lead
Full Year 1995 Top 10 Ranking Table below.
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Lada Samara
A second very popular Lada model appeared on the Soviet Union’s roads in 1984: the Lada Sputnik, better known worldwide as Samara. The 3-door hatchback was launched in 1984, followed by the 5-door hatchback in 1987 and the sedan in 1990.
In all likeliness, the Samara should feature along the Lada 2104/5/7 on top of the car sales ranking of the USSR from 1989 to 1991, and Russia from 1992 to 1995. I couldn’t find any official figures for this period so if you have any please do get in touch! More info on the Lada Samara here.
Previous post: USSR 1988: Lada 2106 leads, Samara on podium
Next post: Russia 1996-2002: Lada 110, Samara and 2104-7 on top
Lada 2105
Pictures: www.autonavigator.ru
In October 1984, Volkswagen signed a contract with the STAC (Shanghai Tractor Automobile Corporation), along with the CNAIC (China National Automotive Industry Corporation) and the Bank of China to form the Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive joint venture.
This JV was established to build the VW Santana, in spite of its limited success in Germany where its career only spanned 4 years (1981-1985). The car’s history in China provides a unique insight into the country’s move towards motorization.
Experimental production of the Santana started in 1983. In October 1985, the first assembly line of the Chinese Santana launched, and by September 1986, the 10,000th Santana was built in China.
The Santana was the first car to be mass produced in China and even though many of the cars were government cars reserved to an elite, it would end up being many Chinese consumers’s first car. Over the next 25 years, more than 3.2 million Santanas would be produced in the country, and it still dominates Shanghai’s taxi fleet nowadays.
The Santana is therefore in all likeliness the unquestioned Chinese sales leader between 1986 and the mid-nineties when the Jetta started production.
Source: Wikipedia, The Truth About Cars (many thanks to Bertel Schmitt for the insights!)
Ford F150
Thanks to Pedro I can share with you the following information for the Canadian new vehicle market in 1995: after many years of domination of the Chevrolet C/K Pick-up, the Ford F-Series takes the lead of both the Light Trucks and overall rankings, while the Chevrolet Cavalier is the best-selling Passenger Car.
