Best Selling Cars – Matt's blog

I found this beautiful map of the world’s best-selling cars by country, citing me as the source (albeit in very very very small letters…wink). Click on the map to download and zoom.

If you have created this map please get in touch, it is not 100% up-to-date… As you know these things change monthly, some countries don’t have the right best-seller in there (Canada: Ford F-Series, Brazil: VW Gol, Argentina: Chevrolet Classic, etc). So please, map author, I would like to work with you to keep it up-to-date at all times

Great to see someone is building on my work! I found the map here.

Peugeot 205

I have now uploaded French Historical Data from 1981 to 1989. This is the time I started getting interested in car sales so I have pretty detailed information for that period: an Annual Top 10/15/20 best-selling models and from 1982 onwards each monthly market share for the Top 10 best-selling French models…Yes sir!

Renault 5

The eighties started like the seventies ended in France: with the Renault 5 in the lead. It held pole position for three more years from 1981 to 1983 before giving up the lead to the Peugeot 205: after a laborious first year of existence at a shy 6th place in 1983 it took off with the arrival of the 2-door and GTI versions in 1984 and led the French market that year and in 1985. The 205 hit its highest monthly market share in February 1985 at an imposing 15.4%.

Renault Supercinq

With the arrival of the Renault Supercinq in 1984 started the most disputed fight for the best-seller title the French market had seen. A battle that extends to today with the Clio vs. 207 rivalry. The Supercinq managed to come first ahead of the 205 each following 4 years, holding the top spot from 1986 to 1989 and hitting its best market share in March 1986 at 13.6%.

Click on ‘Read more’ below for the direct links to these 9 new posts.

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Hyundai Elantra

* See the Top 50 best-selling models over June/July by clicking on ‘Read more’ at end of post! *

Many thanks to Ldman for making this post possible!

The Egyptian car market is slowly returning to normal after last February’s events, but July sales are still down 21% year-on-year at 17,688 units. The year-to-date total stands at 94,712 registrations, 34% below 2010.

While the Hyundai Verna keeps its title of best-selling car in Egypt with 2,952 sales and 8.4% share, the new generation Hyundai Elantra delivers very impressive numbers for its first two months in market: it ranks directly #2 over June/July at 2,589 units and 7.4% share! The Chevrolet Lanos is in shape and takes the 3rd spot over the period at 6.2% share.

JMC Pickup

The Chevrolet TFR pick-up (aka Isuzu D-Max) is down to #4 over the period at 6.1% but stays 2nd year-to-date at 7,690 units and 8.1%. Excellent score of the Chevrolet Aveo, up to 5th place with 1,597 sales (4.6%) just above the new generation Hyundai Accent, #6 with 1,593 sales and 4.5%.

Other good performers in Egypt over the period include the Speranza A516 up to #12, the Hyundai Matrix up to #20, the Mitsubishi Lancer up to #22 and the JMC Pickup launched earlier this year and landing directly at #23 with 322 sales and 0.9% share.

Previous post: see the May 2011 Top 50 best-selling models here.

Full June/July and year-to-date 2011 Top 50 Ranking Table below.

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1956 Renault Dauphine

I have now uploaded French Historical Data spanning 30 years post-War. Witness the Renault 4CV take command of the market until 1956 when it was passed by Simca Aronde then the Renault Dauphine peaking at an impressive 395,000 units produced in 1959.

1967 Renault 4

1961 Citroen Ami 6

1971 Peugeot 204

In 1962, the Renault 4L, which would become the most produced French model in history at over 8 million units, grabs the pole position and leads the way up until 1968, only interrupted by the Citroen Ami 6 in 1966 – the last time a Citroen ranked #1 in France at year-end! The Peugeot 204 is the favourite of French consumers for 3 years after that, before letting the Simca 1100 (in 1972) and the Renault 12 (1973) climb on the highest step.

1979 Renault 5

In 1974 the Renault 5 accesses the throne and will keep the title of best-selling car in France for a full decade, peaking at a still unsurpassed 16% market share in 1980 with just under 300,000 units sold that year.

Lastly a bit of trivia for you: the legendary Citroen 2CV, produced from 1949 to 1990 at a total of 5,114,961 units and one of France’s most successful models ever, never ranked #1 while the Ami 6, a much less successful model overall, did.

Click on ‘Read more’ below for the direct links to these 15 new posts.

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Hyundai Accent

* Now updated with the Top 30 best-selling models: see ‘Read more’ at end of post! *

Unsurprisingly the Renault Symbol stays on top with 2,659 sales – that’s 28% less than in July 2010 – and reinforces its leadership year-to-date at 20,049 units. The Hyundai Accent (most of the sales are still the 2003 generation pictured above) jumps 2 spots to #2 with 1,915 sales, up 25% year-on-year, and is followed by the Hyundai Atos at 1,686 units, down 5%.

The Dacia Logan is back in the Top 5 for the first time since February this year, up 3 spots on June to 4th position with 1,627 sales, up a massive 31% year-on-year. The Toyota Hilux rounds up the Top 5 at 1,482 units, down 2%.

Previous month: see the June 2011 Algeria Top 45 best-selling models here.

Full July and year-to-date Top 30 Ranking Table below.

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Chery QQ and Suzuki Celerio

* Many thanks to Seba from Montevideo, Uruguay for making this post possible! *

New car sales in Uruguay are still buoyant at +43% in June, +6% in July and +30% year-to-date at 27,978 units. 2011 will be a record-breaking year for the Uruguayan market. Sales info by brand enables us to get a good idea of how the models ranking is behaving over the period.

If the Chevrolet Classic should in all logic stay on top, two brands have had amazing results over the last couple of months and this was due to their lead model. Chery managed an incredible 2nd place in the brands ranking behind only Chevrolet in June with an outstanding 12.2% of the market! By far the highest market share ever achieved by a Chinese brand in Uruguay (and possibly anywhere in the world outside China!)… The Chery QQ is the brand’s best-seller in the country.

Suzuki also impresses at #4 and 8.4% share in June and #3 at 7.1% in July, thanks to the new Celerio (aka Alto). Over the first 7 months of 2011 the brand has delivered 1,294 units, up a massive 159% year-on-year! Notice also BYD breaking into the Top 10 brands in July at #9 with 2.3%, mostly BYD F0s. Great Wall, Effa, Geely, Dongfeng, FAW and Lifan also rank in the Top 20.

Previous post: see the May 2011 Uruguay post here.

Full June, July and year-to-date Top 20 best-selling brands Ranking Tables below.

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Toyota Hilux, picture by snocat17

* Many thanks to Seba from Montevideo, Uruguay for making this post possible! *

In 2010, Peruvian consumers bought 120,800 new cars, an increase of no less than 57% on 2009 and the new yearly volume record for the country, the first time above 100,000 annual units and 31% ahead of the previous record of 2008 at 92,539 units.

Toyota has led in Peru for almost 20 years and places two models on top of the ranking: the Hilux is the best-selling vehicle in the country with 9,014 units and 7.5% share and the Yaris is the most popular passenger car with 8,124 sales and 6.7%. The Kia Rio is likely to round up the podium, ahead of the Toyota Corolla at 3,180 units and 2.6%.

The 1991 Daewoo Tico is the most popular taxi in Peru

In 2011 it looks like car sales in Peru will break a new record with 56,028 new registrations over the first 5 months of the year, up 24% on 2010. Only brand sales info is available for January to April 2011 and it shows Toyota leading the passenger car ranking again with 4,024 units and 14.8% but down 9% and seriously threatened by Kia at 3,837 sales (14.1%) and Chevrolet at 3,574 units (13.1%), up a massive 109% year-on-year.

Among Chinese carmakers, notice Chery at #9 with 536 sales (2% share) up 29%, Great Wall at #12 with 364 sales (1.3%) up 275%, JAC at #17 with 254 sales (0.9%) up 505% and Geely at #19 with 219 sales (0.8%) up 50%.

2008 to 2011 brands Ranking Tables: see ‘Read more’ below the Hilux pic.

Toyota Hilux, picture by Captain Victor

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Toyota Corolla

* Click on title for street scenes and videos! *

* Many thanks to Hapa who made this post update possible! *

Toyota literally owns the Kenyan car market with at least half of all cars in circulation former generations of Corolla, Camry, Yaris, RAV4 or Land Cruiser. Among other brands only Nissan with the Sunny can claim a similar influence of the motoring landscape of Kenya.

Toyota Allion

New cars are still very rare in the streets of Nairobi but given the country’s sales background, in all likeliness the Toyota Corolla should lead the Kenyan sales in 2010, ahead of the Yaris and RAV4. Toyota has also been dominating the recent second-hand market with the Premio, Allion, Probox and Succeed extremely popular.

Nissan seems to be selling solid numbers of Tiidas, X-Trails and 1 Ton pick-ups (aka Frontier old gen) these days. Subaru should find a place on the brands ranking podium in Kenya, its most successful models being the Forester and Impreza. Other favourites include the Isuzu KB (aka D-Max), Suzuki Grand Vitara, VW Golf and Passat which the government seem to be very fond of.

More pictures and street videos: click on ‘Read more’ below the Subaru Forester pic.

Subaru Forester

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1912 Ford Model T

Yes you have read well: I have uploaded Historical Data for the USA since 1908, year of the Ford Model T launch. It is the first car to be mass-produced, and I have yearly production figures for you, showing that in 1923 2,011,125 units of the Model T were produced, still to date the highest annual production figure ever achieved by a single model! That’s more than twice Toyota Corolla’s yearly production nowadays…

1965 Chevrolet Impala

Between 1927 and 1960 I have absolutely no information so please do get in touch if you have anything to add! In 1965 the Chevrolet Impala sold 1,074,925 units in the US, the highest postwar annual sales volume achieved by a single model in the country.

1982 Ford F-Series

The Ford F-Series took the lead of pick-up sales in 1977, then of the overall market in 1982 and never looked back, holding the title of best-selling vehicle in the country for 29 years in a row! This means the market leader in 1981, the Chevrolet Chevette was the very last passenger car to dominate overall US car sales.

The Honda Accord was the first model by a foreign brand to take the lead of the passenger car ranking in 1989. The Ford Taurus gave the title back to the US from 1992 to 1996 before the Toyota Camry started its reign in 1997 to then become the best-selling passenger car in the US for 12 of the following 13 years!

For the direct links to these 22 new posts click on ‘Read more’ below.

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VW CrossFox

* See the Top 150 best-selling models by clicking on ‘Read more’ at end of post.

The Brazilian car market is up 5% over the first half of August at 139,851 registrations. The VW Gol delivers 13,509 sales over the period for a very solid 9.7% market share, its best since last January when it reached 10%. It is at 8.9% and 184,648 units over 2011 year-to-date.

The Fiat Uno ranks 2nd at 8.1% and 11,382 sales, it hasn’t been that far from the Gol since January 2011. Its 2011 year-to-date share is very close at 8.2% thanks to 169,706 sales. Below the Chevrolet Celta, stable at #3, the VW Fox/CrossFox is up 2 spots on July to rank 4th, a position it hasn’t occupied since last March. It is still #6 year-to-date. The VW Voyage is back up to #8 with a very solid 3% share, just above the Renault Sandero, staying strong at #9 with 2.9%.

Other great performers this month include the Chery QQ up to a best-ever 40th place with 783 sales and 0.6%, the Chevrolet Blazer making its first appearance in the Brazilian Top 100 at an excellent 63rd position with 463 sales and 0.3%, the Renault Megane GT up 16 spots to #68 and the Citroen C3 Picasso up 10 spots to #78.

JAC J6

While the JAC J3 is down 2 spots at #44 and the JAC J3 Turin is down 4 spots to #65, the JAC J6, launched in July, makes its very first appearance in the Brazilian Top 150 at #104 with 172 sales (0.1%) and the JAC J5 delivers its very first 18 units.

Previous month: see the July 2011 Brazilian Top 150 best-selling models here.

Full mid-August 2011 Top 150 Ranking Table below.

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