Portugal 1997: Opel Corsa reclaims pole position, Fiat Marea #17
Opel Corsa
* See the Top 20 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to José *
After two years of interruption by the Fiat Punto in 1995 and 1996, the Opel Corsa reclaims the pole position in the Portuguese models ranking in 1996 and ranks Number 1 for the third time in the last 5 years. The Fiat Punto is down to #2, followed by the Ford Fiesta, VW Polo and Renault Clio. The Citroen Saxo is up 5 spots on last year to #6 and passes its twin the Peugeot 106 (#7) while the Honda Civic maintains itself within the Portuguese Top 10 at an excellent #9.
Fiat Marea
Outside the Top 10, the Rover 400 stays at a very solid 12th place , the Peugeot 306 and Opel Vectra are both up 7 ranks to #14 and #16 respectively, the Fiat Marea brilliantly breaks into the Portuguese Top 20 for the first time, up 27 spots to #17 and the Hyundai Accent is the first Korean model to rank within the year-end Top 20 in Portugal, up 14 ranks on 1996 to #18.
Previous year: Portugal 1996: Fiat Punto on top, Honda Civic up to #8
Next year: Portugal 1998: Opel Corsa and Fiat Punto fight it out
Full Year 1997 Top 20 Ranking Table below.
Portugal 1997:
| Pos | Model | 1997 | /96 | 1996 | % | Pos |
| 1 | Opel Corsa | 20,370 | -4% | 21,115 | 9.7% | 2 |
| 2 | Fiat Punto | 19,832 | -20% | 24,829 | 11.4% | 1 |
| 3 | Ford Fiesta | 14,731 | 3% | 14,270 | 6.5% | 3 |
| 4 | VW Polo | 13,419 | 4% | 12,904 | 5.9% | 5 |
| 5 | Renault Clio | 12,211 | -13% | 14,081 | 6.5% | 4 |
| 6 | Citroen Saxo | 10,051 | 73% | 5,815 | 2.7% | 11 |
| 7 | Peugeot 106 | 9,715 | -4% | 10,172 | 4.7% | 6 |
| 8 | Renault Mégane | 8,480 | 10% | 7,698 | 3.5% | 7 |
| 9 | Honda Civic | 6,566 | -6% | 6,992 | 3.2% | 8 |
| 10 | Opel Astra | 6,492 | -1% | 6,588 | 3.0% | 9 |
| 11 | Seat Ibiza | 4,705 | -5% | 4,970 | 2.3% | 14 |
| 12 | Rover 400 | 4,015 | -31% | 5,792 | 2.7% | 12 |
| 13 | Ford Escort | 3,754 | -25% | 4,977 | 2.3% | 13 |
| 14 | Peugeot 306 | 3,378 | 28% | 2,632 | 1.2% | 21 |
| 15 | Audi A4 | 3,214 | -10% | 3,567 | 1.4% | 16 |
| 16 | Opel Vectra | 2,786 | 11% | 2,505 | 1.1% | 23 |
| 17 | Fiat Marea | 2,745 | 237% | 814 | 0.4% | 44 |
| 18 | Hyundai Accent | 2,542 | 56% | 1,630 | 0.7% | 32 |
| 19 | Lancia Y | 2,538 | -13% | 2,925 | 1.3% | 19 |
| 20 | VW Golf/Vento | 2,498 | -36% | 3,885 | 1.8% | 15 |
Source: Guia de Automovel. Many thanks to José for sharing the info!
