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Europe 1999: Opel Astra a serious threat to the VW Golf

January 24th, 2000 Leave a comment Go to comments

Opel Astra

* See the Top 55 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

8 years after the nameplate was launched and 6 months after the 2nd generation appeared in showrooms, the Opel Astra achieves what it had been designed for: act as a serious threat to the VW Golf in Europe. During the whole of 1999, Opel Astra and VW Golf sales are neck-to-neck. End of year figures are to the advantage of the Golf at 703,604 sales vs. 683,870 for the Astra.

VW Golf

In March, both models break volume records: the Golf sells 80,720 units (+49%) and the Astra delivers 77,950 sales (+121%). These figures remain unbeaten. In May, the Astra passes the Golf for the very first time with 61,300 registrations vs. 60,100. I don’t have figures for every month of 1999 but it is safe to assume the Astra repeated this feat a couple of times.

The Renault Megane is still very strong this year at 576,291 sales (-1%), 43% of which are the Megane Scenic MPV version, whereas its little sister the Renault Clio continues to progress, up 3 spots and 16% in 4th position with 487,004 sales.

Ford Focus

Two all-new models launched in 1998 establish themselves in the Top 10 this year. The Ford Focus, an edgy Escort replacement, fares best with a massive 472,182 sales at #5 for its first full year, and the Peugeot 206 delivers an equally impressive 439,060 units at #8. The VW Passat leads its category and breaks into the Year-end Top 10 at #10 with 322,829 units while the BMW 3 Series jump into the Top 10 in July with 29,310 sales.

The Nissan Micra leads the Japanese models at #30 followed by the Toyota Corolla (#31), Yaris (#41), Avensis (#42), Nissan Primera (#44), Almera (#49), Honda Civic (#53) and Mazda 323 (#55). The Daewoo Matiz is the best-selling Korean model at #52.

Previous year: Europe 1998: VW Golf, Renault Megane and Fiat Punto lead

Next year: Europe 2000: VW Golf and Fiat Punto dominate

Full Year 1999 Top 45, Monthly Top 10 for March, May and July 1999 and all model sales below.

You can check out the Monthly Top 10 for March, May and July 1999 here: Europe 1999 Monthly

You can check out the sales of every model sold in Europe in 1999 here: Europe 1999 All models

Europe Full Year 1999:

Pos Model 1999 99/98 1998 Pos
1 VW Golf 703,604 5% 672,662 1
2 Opel Astra 683,870 22% 558,717 4
3 Renault Megane 576,291 -1% 582,112 2
4 Renault Clio 487,004 16% 418,748 7
5 Ford Focus 472,182 new n/a  -
6 Opel Corsa 455,724 -8% 498,059 5
7 Fiat Punto 448,789 -20% 560,986 3
8 Peugeot 206 439,060 new n/a  -
9 VW Polo 355,071 -17% 426,256 6
10 VW Passat 322,829 -7% 348,241 11

Source: JATO

Europe Full Year 1999 (Source Interautonews):

Pos Model 1999 /98 1998 Pos
1 VW Golf 707,077 13% 627,502 1
2 Opel Astra 680,464 32% 515,459 4
3 Renault Megane 544,193 -6% 581,153 2
4 Renault Clio 489,532 18% 413,858 7
5 Ford Focus 470,408 new n/a n/a
6 Opel Corsa 455,418 -5% 478,767 5
7 Fiat Punto 445,032 -16% 529,718 3
8 Peugeot 206 441,451 new n/a n/a
9 VW Polo 354,530 -12% 401,047 8
10 VW Passat 324,846 n/a n/a n/a

Europe Full Year 1999 Top 55 with Megane and Scenic separated (Source: Interautonews):

Pos Model 1999
1 VW Golf 707,077
2 Opel Astra 680,464
3 Renault Clio 489,532
4 Ford Focus 470,408
5 Opel Corsa 455,418
6 Fiat Punto 445,032
7 Peugeot 206 441,451
8 VW Polo 354,530
9 Renault Megane 329,361
10 VW Passat 324,846
11 Ford Fiesta 311,182
12 Opel Vectra 292,925
13 Peugeot 306 273,741
14 BMW 3 Series 272,172
15 Citroen Xsara 265,989
16 Renault Scenic 254,677
17 Citroen Saxo 241,575
18 Ford Mondeo 231,522
19 Peugeot 406 223,854
20 Renault Twingo 195,833
21 Audi A4 195,485
22 Renault Laguna 194,356
23 Mercedes A Class 177,657
24 Fiat Seicento 172,730
25 Seat Ibiza 166,894
26 Ford Ka 163,369
27 Mercedes C Class 161,100
28 Fiat Bravo/a 159,600
29 Mercedes E Class 153,569
30 Nissan Micra 145,658
31 Toyota Corolla 138,960
32 BMW 5 Series 135,947
33 Audi A3 130,889
34 Audi A6 125,631
35 Peugeot 106 124,814
36 Fiat Panda 123,474
37 Citroen Xantia 121,449
38 Volvo S40/V40 116,272
39 VW Lupo 114,262
40 Opel Zafira 114,224
41 Toyota Yaris 111,102
42 Toyota Avensis 109,503
43 Lancia Y 109,482
44 Nissan Primera 102,640
45 Ford Escort 101,799
46 Skoda Octavia 100,114
47 Alfa Romeo 156 98,201
48 Rover 200 97,661
49 Nissan Almera 95,240
50 VW Bora 93,824
51 Seat Cordoba 92,317
52 Daewoo Matiz 90,524
53 Honda Civic 89,069
54 Skoda Felicia 86,190
55 Mazda 323 81,615

 

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