Portugal Full Year 2012: Renault Megane #1, BMW 1 Series #7 in worst year since 1985

Renault Megane

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Very difficult year for new car sales in Portugal, down 38% on 2011 which was already down 31% on 2010… At a total 95,290 registrations, this is the first time since 1985 that the Portuguese new car market falls below 100,000 annual units… The Renault Megane keeps the pole position for the 4th year in a row in spite of sales down 42% to 4,868 units and 5.1% share. Both the Renault Clio III at #2 with 4,293 sales and 4.5% and the VW Polo at #3 with 3,692 units and 3.9% gain one spot on 2011, benefitting from the freefall of the Seat Ibiza from #2 in 2011 to #19 this year…

Peugeot 208

The Peugeot 208 brilliantly lands directly in 4th position even though it launched in April when it ranked #4 already. The 208 even took the lead of Portuguese car sales in August and September and could be a serious contender to the title of most popular car in Portugal in 2013. The VW Golf VI (#5) and Opel Corsa (#6) exchange positions vs. 2011 but the new generation Golf VII ranked immediately #1 in November and should rank higher than its predecessor in 2013…

BMW 1 Series

The economic crisis had another interesting effect on the Portuguese models ranking this year: helped by strong fleet sales and an upper-class less affected by revenue contraction, premium carmakers have done extremely well in Portugal this year. BMW is up 4 spots to #4 brand overall, Audi up 6 to #6 and Mercedes up 2 to #7. The BMW 1 Series jumps from outside the Top 30 in 2011 to an outstanding 7th place thanks to 2,406 sales and 2.5%, peaking at #4 in September. BMW placed 3 models in the monthly Top 12 in September and has 3 in the Full Year 2012 Top 20: the 3 Series is up 8 ranks to #15 while the 5 Series is up 2 to #20.

Audi A3

Audi had 3 models in the Top 16 in September with the Audi A3 peaking at #5 in November, and finishes the year with 5 representants in the Portuguese Top 50: the A3 at #17 (+11), A4 at #22 (-2), A1 at #23, A6 at #48 and A5 at #50… The Mercedes C-Class peaked at #6 in March and ends 2012 at #11 (+3) while the E-Class ranks #21, the B-Class #30 and the A-Class #45. Notice also the Toyota Yaris up 16 ranks on 2011 to #14, the Chevrolet Aveo up to #25 and the Kia Rio up to #39.

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Full Year 2012 Top 50 models and Top 40 All-brands Ranking Tables below.