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Europe 2008: VW Golf defies the GFC

January 25th, 2009 Leave a comment Go to comments

VW Golf

* See the Top 80 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

After two years of chaos, the European models ranking is back to stability – albeit rocked by the GFC – with only 2 models sharing the #1 spot throughout the year.

The VW Golf is only one of 2 models in the Top 10 to see its sales increase year-on-year with 461,620 units, up 6%. It is the best-selling car in Europe for the first time since 2004 – for the 21st year overall since 1983 – and grabs the top spot in January and from April onwards. This return to shape late in the 5th gen’s career could be in part due to the addition of a station wagon. The 6th gen launch in November should make things even easier for the model in 2009.

Peugeot 207

The Peugeot 207′s reign over the European market will have lasted only one short year, like the 206 in 2003. It is #2 with 406,740 sales, down 7% on 2011, and was still #1 only in February and March. In third place, the Ford Focus stays solid with 364,226 units (-10%), followed by the Opel Corsa.

Audi A4

Two models broke into the monthly Top 10 for the very first time this year. The Audi A4 was up there from July to October, and took advantage of a traditionally messy August to get up to a fantastic 2nd place , equalling the ‘large car’ record set by the Opel Vectra in August 1997… It finishes the year at a brilliant #10 with a record 256,349 units, up 16% and 7 spots on 2011. The Skoda Fabia also entered the exclusive monthly Top 10 circle in August when it sold 14,131 units, and finished 2008 at #17.

Among newcomers in the European Top 50 this year, let’s notice the Peugeot 308 landing directly at #13 for its first full year, the Fiat 500 up to #22 with 177,680 sales, the Nissan Qashqai up 23 spots and 61% to #29 at 144,879 units, the Renault Twingo new gen up 48% to #32 and the VW Tiguan landing at #48 with 92,638 sales for its first full year.

Previous year: Europe 2007: Peugeot 207 edges VW Golf out

Next year: Europe 2009: VW Golf and Ford Fiesta dominate

Full Year 2008 Top 80, every Monthly Top 10 Ranking Tables and every model sales below.

You can check out every Monthly Top 10 here: Europe 2008 Monthly.

You can check the sales of every model sold in Europe in 2008 here: Europe 2008 All models

Europe Full Year 2008 Top 80 (Source Interautonews):

Pos Model 2008 /07 2007 Pos
1 VW Golf 461,620 6% 435,610 2
2 Peugeot 207 406,740 -7% 437,262 1
3 Ford Focus 364,316 -10% 406,944 4
4 Opel Corsa 360,781 -10% 402,092 5
5 Renault Clio 335,951 -12% 381,909 6
6 Ford Fiesta 327,851 -8% 355,776 8
7 Opel Astra 321,012 -24% 424,509 3
8 Fiat Punto 279,134 -26% 377,783 7
9 VW Polo 276,098 -5% 289,388 11
10 Audi A4 256,349 16% 220,388 17
11 BMW 3 Series 251,334 -15% 295,063 10
12 VW Passat 236,193 -22% 301,645 9
13 Peugeot 308 231,804 436% 43,256 n/a
14 Toyota Yaris 223,673 -13% 256,267 12
15 Fiat Panda 223,447 -10% 249,000 13
16 Mercedes C Class 206,381 17% 176,927 23
17 Skoda Fabia 201,101 2% 196,913 20
18 Audi A3 190,114 -5% 200,150 19
19 BMW 1 Series 187,691 32% 142,192 30
20 Citroen C4 Picasso 184,896 10% 168,702 24
21 Skoda Octavia 178,539 -8% 195,021 21
22 Fiat 500 177,680 318% 42,468 n/a
23 Citroen C3 176,545 -16% 211,062 18
24 Renault Scenic 168,178 -29% 238,002 14
25 Renault Megane 163,550 -30% 232,190 15
26 Ford Mondeo 163,262 10% 148,818 28
27 Seat Ibiza 160,338 5% 152,624 27
28 Opel Zafira 147,687 -18% 179,585 22
29 Nissan Qashqai 144,879 61% 89,919 52
30 Mini 143,773 -1% 144,978 29
31 Toyota Auris 132,605 2% 129,490 34
32 Renault Twingo 129,619 48% 87,580 53
33 VW Touran 129,300 -23% 167,164 25
34 Mercedes A Class 125,671 -8% 136,349 31
35 Citroen C4 118,216 -29% 166,726 26
36 Honda Civic 111,206 -8% 120,799 36
37 Ford C-Max 108,099 -6% 115,318 39
38 BMW 5 Series 104,617 -13% 119,936 37
39 Citroen C1 104,475 11% 93,903 50
40 Smart Fortwo 103,855 13% 91,624 51
41 Audi A6 102,378 -22% 131,839 33
42 Toyota Aygo 101,303 -1% 102,671 45
43 Mercedes B Class 101,072 -7% 108,699 42
44 Kia Cee’d 100,071 49% 67,048 71
45 Suzuki Swift 98,715 -18% 121,038 35
46 Peugeot 107 98,236 1% 97,225 49
47 Fiat Bravo 93,371 16% 80,813 56
48 VW Tiguan 92,638 new 6,927 n/a
49 Renault Laguna 90,291 27% 70,850 64
50 Seat Leon 90,162 -20% 113,355 40
51 Opel Meriva 89,588 -32% 132,067 32
52 VW Golf Plus 89,459 -13% 102,453 46
53 Opel Vectra 81,722 -24% 106,904 43
54 Dacia Logan 80,813 6% 76,279 62
55 Nissan Micra 78,827 -4% 82,213 55
56 Mercedes E Class 77,661 -29% 109,872 41
57 Renault Modus 76,884 28% 59,888 79
58 Toyota Avensis 74,068 -28% 103,566 44
59 Mazda2 72,638 109% 34,781 n/a
60 Citroen C5 71,187 52% 46,853 n/a
61 Peugeot 407 70,683 -41% 119,183 38
62 Ford Fusion 67,860 -15% 79,558 59
63 Volvo V70/XC70 67,357 -14% 78,193 60
64 Chevrolet Matiz 65,562 -3% 67,352 70
65 Mazda6 65,208 2% 64,009 74
66 Toyota RAV4 62,501 -36% 97,414 48
67 Lancia Ypsilon 61,570 -23% 79,899 58
68 Citroen Xsara Picasso 61,546 -39% 100,434 47
69 Peugeot 206 61,183 -29% 85,656 54
70 Nissan Note 59,339 -10% 65,945 72
71 Honda Jazz 59,216 -13% 67,711 68
72 Toyota Corolla Verso 58,855 -27% 80,599 57
73 Hyundai i30 57,096 151% 22,746 n/a
74 Volvo V50 56,872 2% 55,897 n/a
75 Hyundai Getz 55,214 -18% 67,467 69
76 Honda CR-V 55,107 -28% 76,613 61
77 Ford S-Max 55,097 -22% 70,700 65
78 Seat Altea 54,131 -27% 74,601 63
79 Renault Kangoo 53,832 30% 41,339 n/a
80 Citroen C2 53,774 -22% 68,562 66

Europe Full Year 2008 Top 10 (Source JATO):

Pos Model 2008 08/07 2007 Pos
1 VW Golf 461,539 6% 435,055 2
2 Peugeot 207 406,718 -7% 437,505 1
3 Ford Focus 364,226 -10% 406,557 3
4 Opel Corsa 360,761 -10% 402,173 4
5 Renault Clio 335,920 -12% 382,041 6
6 Ford Fiesta 327,828 -8% 355,933 8
7 Opel Astra 320,878 -20% 402,044 5
8 Fiat Punto 279,115 -26% 377,989 7
9 VW Polo 276,077 -5% 289,382 11
10 VW Passat 253,853 -16% 300,566 9
11 Audi A4 251,499 n/a n/a  -
12 BMW 3 Series 251,140 -15% 295,312 10
13 Fiat Panda 223,441 n/a n/a  -
Categories: Europe
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