World March 2012 round-up: Toyota Prius breaks a leg

Toyota Prius c

* See the Top 10 best-selling models in the world by clicking on the title! *

Let me introduce a new monthly update on Best Selling Cars Blog: the World round-up. Now that most countries models rankings are in, let’s cast a global view on which cars were the stars of the month around the world… and March had its lot of highlights…

There is one model, or more precisely family, that stands out this month: the Toyota Prius. Massively boosted by the arrival of the MPV and c versions, the Prius family lodged record-breaking volumes in Japan and the USA. In Japan, the Prius c is marketed as Aqua and is up to an outstanding 29,156 sales, while the ‘standard’ Prius sold a record 45,496 units including the MPV version, up 131% year-on-year. In the US, sales are not split and the Prius family as a whole sold a record 28,711 units for a best-ever 6th place.

Honda CR-V

The Honda CR-V new generation enables the nameplate to reach record heights in both the USA where it ranks at a best-ever #5 with 30,068 units sold and in China where it is #4 with 21,124 units. Nissan lodges two historical performances this month: even though it is about to be replaced with a new generation, the Altima breaks its monthly volume record in the USA with 41,050 sales, while the Nissan Qashqai has its best European month ever in 7th place with 30,237 units, thanks to best-ever performances in Germany, France, the UK, Ireland (#1), Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Czech Republic and ranking #2 in Spain.

Nissan Qashqai

Another milestone passed in March: for the first time ever, there were two Japanese models in the European Top 10 with the Toyota Yaris climbing into 10th position with 22,856 sales, helped by a record-breaking showing in the UK. India is the new China: in March 281,831 new vehicles found a buyer in the country, up 20% year-on-year and a new all-time record! The Maruti Alto has its 2nd best month ever at 35,245 sales and no less than 12 models break their monthly record, including the Maruti DZire, Hyundai Eon, Tata Nano and Honda Brio delivering the best month ever for a Honda model in India at 6,355 sales.

VW Up!

Other highlights this month include the pole position of the VW Up! in Denmark only a few months after its launch, the Fiat Uno beating the VW Gol in Brazil for only the third time ever, the Lada Granta up to #4 in Russia, the Dacia Duster reaching 10% share in its native Romania, the all-new Peugeot 208 landing at #16 in France, the Mazda CX-5 reaching a world best #18 in the Netherlands and the Range Rover Evoque breaking into the Swiss Top 20,

Other big figures include the Ford F-Series selling 58,061 units in the US followed by the Toyota Camry at 42,567 sales, the Wuling Sunshine stuck in pole position in China with 54,546 units, the Buick Excelle now China’s favourite passenger car with 24,134 sales and the Daihatsu Mira Kei car at 29,721 units in Japan.

Previous post: World 2011: Updated Top 100 now available!

Estimated March 2012 Top 10 World’s best-selling models below.