Europe Full Year 2011: VW Polo up to second spot for the first time

The VW Polo delivers its highest ever European ranking in 2011

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The VW Golf is the best-selling car in Europe for the fourth consecutive year with 484,547 sales, down just 2% and peaking at 53,055 units in March. It is the 26th time in the last 30 years that the VW Golf leads the European models ranking. The Golf was #1 every month this year, and as at December it has been leading the market for 21 consecutive months, the last time it wasn’t in pole position being March 2010. It has been #1 for 43 of the last 45 months! The Golf is #1 in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Norway, and possibly Luxembourg.

VW Golf

The fight for the 2nd place was very contested this year and the winner is the VW Polo, reaching its highest ranking in Europe since the launch of the Polo nameplate in 1975! It is also the first time ever Volkswagen holds the first 2 spots in the European ranking. The Polo finishes the year at 356,490 units, stable on 2010. It peaked at 39,311 units in March and was #2 for 7 months this year. The Polo is #1 in the Netherlands.

Ford Fiesta

Down one spot and 13% to 348,365 sales, the Ford Fiesta peaked at 50,534 units in March and still managed to rank #2 four times in 2011. It is #1 in the UK. Up one rank to #4 in spite of sales down 2%, the Opel Corsa sells 313,325 units this year and ranked within the podium 3 times, beating the Polo twice. The Renault Clio is down 13% to #5 and 294,172 sales but is the fourth model to manage to rank at least #2 this year – in February.

VW Passat

Both the Opel Astra (-1%) and Ford Focus (+7%) gain one spot to #6 and #7 respectively, while the Peugeot 207 loses the most ground (-21% to #8) and the Renault Megane stays #9. The best performer in the Top 10 is by far the VW Passat, up a huge 46% and 14 ranks on 2010 to land in 10th position with 233,330 sales. It peaked at #5 in April, the first time Volkswagen ever placed 3 models in the European Top 5 in any given month… Notice also the Nissan Qashqai appearing in the Top 10 in September for only the 2nd time ever.

Previous month: Europe November 2011: Opel Corsa up to third place

Previous year: Europe Full Year 2010: VW Golf leader ahead of Ford Fiesta and VW Polo

Full Year, December 2011 and every monthly Top 10 Ranking Tables below.