Best Selling Cars – Matt's blog

VW Transporter

* See the Top 20 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

New Light Commercial Vehicle sales finish the year on a depressed note: down 35% to 2,611 registrations in December, bringing the Full Year 2012 total to 31,850 units, down 10% on 2011. In spite of a spike from the VW Transporter in December (#1 at 17% share!), the VW Caddy remains the best-seller in the category with 5,270 sales and 16.5%, up a beautiful 13% on 2011, with the Transporter at #2 with 3,823 units and 12% share, up 5%. All-in-all, the two VW vans grab 28.5% of the Norwegian LCV market this year, vs. 23.4% in 2011.

The Peugeot Partner and Citroen Berlingo are both up one spot to #3 and #4 respectively, while the Mercedes Vito is up 3 to #5, the Ford Connect is stable at #6 and the Toyota Hilux is up 3 to #7. Bad year for the Toyota Hiace down 67% and 5 ranks to #8. Other good performers include the Toyota Land Cruiser up 17% to #12, the Isuzu D-Max up 16% to #13 and the Peugeot Expert up 20% to #17.

Previous month: Norway LCV November 2012: VW Amarok #6 again

Full Year and December 2012 Top 20 Ranking Tables below.

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VW Tiguan

* NOW UPDATED with actuals for Top 30 best-selling models! - Click on title to see *

The new car market in Norway is down 3% year-on-year in November to 11,986 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 128,598 units, still up 1% on 2011. This month and for the 2nd time this year after April, the podium is 100% Volkswagen! The Golf is in pole position for the 5th consecutive time with 664 sales and 5.5% and reinforcing its 2012 leadership at 5,861 units and 4.6%, the Passat ranks #2 with 376 sales and 3.1% and is #3 year-to-date at 3,896 units and 3% and the Tiguan jumps onto the third spot for the first time since last February with 371 sales and 3.1%, #4 YTD at 3,601 units and 2.8%…

Kia Sportage

The Toyota Yaris is down two ranks to a still shiny 4th place with 366 sales and 3.1% while the Volvo V70 is up 5 to #5, the Ford Focus stable at #6 but still #2 YTD at 3,952 units and 3.1%, and the Toyota Prius down 3 to #7 vs. #15 YTD. Great performances of the Volvo V40 up 13 spots to #10 with 230 sales and 1.9%, the Mitsubishi Outlander boosted by the new generation and also up 13 ranks to #11 at 224 units and 1.9% and the Kia Sportage up 14 to #12 with 223 sales and 1.6%.

Citroen C4 Aircross

Further down, notice also the Audi A4 up 9 to to #13, the VW Up! up 4 to #14, the VW Polo up 6 to #15, the Peugeot 208 at #19, the Mercedes B-Class up 6 to #24, the Honda CR-V up 16 to #27 and the Citroen C4 Aircross up 31 spots to break into the Norwegian Top 30 for the first time at #30 with 129 units and 1.1%.

Previous month: Norway October 2012: Nissan Leaf at highest in the world

One year ago: Norway November 2011: Mitsubishi ASX and Nissan Leaf shine

Full November 2012 Top 30 Ranking Table below.

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VW Amarok

* See the Top 20 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

Sales of Light Commercial Vehicles are down a worrying 24% year-on-year in Norway to 2,685 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 29,239 units, down 7% on 2011. The Top 5 most popular models this month are identical to the year-to-date ranking, but if the VW Caddy at #1 and 16.6% lodge a score in the vincinity of its YTD level, all following 4 models markedly outperform their YTD performance: the VW Transporter is at 14.4% vs. 11.6% YTD, the Peugeot Partner is at 8.3% vs. 7%, the Citroen Berlingo at 7% vs. 6.3% and the Mercedes Sprinter at 5.3% vs. 4.3%.

Already up to a shiny 6th position in October, the VW Amarok brilliantly reiterates that feat this month thanks to 110 sales for a 4.1% market share. It is now #11 year-to-date. Notice also the Toyota Hilux up to #7 and 4.1% vs. 3.3% YTD, and the Peugeot Expert up to #9 and 2.6% vs. #17 and 1.4% YTD.

Previous month: Norway LCV October 2012: VW Amarok up to #6

Full November 2012 Top 20 Ranking Table below.

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Nissan Leaf

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 100 best-selling models! Click on title to see *

Norwegian new car sales buck the overall European trend and are up a solid 7% year-on-year in October to 12,413 units, bringing the year-to-date total to 116,612 registrations, up 2% on 2011. As usual the VW Golf is the favourite model in the country with 483 sales and 3.9% share, and this month it is followed by the Toyota Yaris up 7 spots on September to 460 units and 3.7% and ranking #2 for the second time in the last 3 months. The VW Passat rounds up the podium (as it does year-to-date) with 391 sales and 3.1%.

Toyota Prius+

Another outstanding month for the Toyota Prius at #4 with 351 units and 2.8% (sales include the Prius+ version), it is now #17 year-to-date at 1,781 sales and 1.5%. Notice also the VW Tiguan back up 7 ranks to #5 and the Volvo V60 stable at an excellent 7th place. But the one model that breaks its ranking and volume records this month in Norway is the Nissan Leaf, stepping into the monthly Top 10 for the first time at #9 with 277 units and 2.2% share, its previous best being #11 in February and September 2012. Its market share record remains 2.3%, hit last month. Norway is the only country in the world where the Leaf has managed to rank within the Top 10…

Opel Ampera

Outside the Top 10, the Peugeot 208 is up 3 spots to a best-ever #11 this month, the Mazda CX-5 stays solid at #17 vs. #31 year-to-date, the VW Up! is up an impressive 28 ranks to break into the Norwegian Top 20 for the first time at #18m, the Volvo V40 is up 13 to #23, the Mitsubishi Outlander up 17 to #24 thanks to the new model and the Kia Cee’d stable at #25 vs. #54 year-to-date. The Opel Ampera brilliantly breaks into the Nowegian Top 50, landing directly at #39 with 104 sales while the Skoda Citigo ranks #57, the Mercedes A-Class #72, the Ford B-Max #82 and the Opel Mokka #83 for its first appearance in the ranking.

Previous post: Norway: 1956-2001 More detailed Historical Data now available

Previous month: Norway September 2012: Toyota Prius #3, Peugeot 4008 in Top 30

One year ago: Norway October 2011: VW Tiguan climbs on podium

Full October 2012 Top 100 Ranking Table below.

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VW Amarok

* See the Top 20 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

Light Commercial Vehicle sales are down 1% in October in Norway to 2,880 units, bringing the year-to-date total to 25,554 units, down 5% on 2011. No surprises on top: the VW Caddy leads the way with 556 sales and a huge 19.3% market share (vs. 16.9% year-to-date) ahead of the VW Transporter at 349 units and 12.1% vs. 11.3% ytd.

The Citroen Berlingo jumps onto the podium thanks to 247 sales and 8.6% vs. 6.2% year-to-date. But the best performer in Norway this month is the VW Amarok, up 11 spots on September to a shiny 6th place at 131 units and 4.5% vs. #15 and 1.9% year-to-date. Notice also the Isuzu D-Max up to #7 with 108 sales and 3.8% and the Fiat Doblo at #10 with 81 units and 2.8%.

Previous month: Norway LCV September 2012: VW Caddy and Transporter dominate

Full October 2012 Top 20 Ranking Table below.

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The Ford Cortina was #2 in Norway in 1963 and from 1965 to 1969

* Click on the title for the direct links to 29 Norway Historical Data articles! Thanks to Rene & STAC *

Thanks to Rene and STAC I am now able to share with you more detailed Historical Data for Norway. There is now a Top 10 models ranking for each and every year from 1956 to 1978, decade rankings for the eighties and nineties, a Top 50 models ranking for 1993, 94 and 96, a Top 10 for 1998, Top 15 for 1999 and from 2000 onwards there is at least a Top 20 for each year!

The 100,000th Norwegian VW Beetle delivered to its owner

The VW Beetle dominates the Norwegian models ranking during the fifties and the sixties, in pole position for 13 of the 15 years from 1956 to 1970 and peaking at 22.4% share in 1960. It is the best-selling model of all times in Norway with over 140,000 units sold in the country alone.

The Pobeda ranked #2 in Norway in 1956 (4wd version featured aka GAZ M-71)

The Volvo PV444/544 managed to interrupt this domination in 1957 and 1958, a feat that it didn’t achieve in its native Sweden as far as I know. Notice also the Pobeda (aka GAZ M-20) holding 11.7% of the market in 1956… A few Ford models had to do with 2nd place over the period: the Anglia peaked at 11.7% share in 1960 while the Cortina held that position 6 times from 1963 to 1969, peaking at 12% in 1963.

The Datsun Sunny was #8 in Norway in 1970

In 1970 the Japanese land and the Datsun Sunny is the first nippon model to rank within the year-end Norwegian Top 10 at #8. This will be improved to #6 in 1971 by the Mazda 1500, to #5 in 1973 by the Mazda 818 and to #2 in 1975 by the Toyota Corolla while the Mazda 929 reaches 5% of the market in 1976…

The Mazda 1500 was #6 in Norway in 1971

In 1971 the Volvo 140 Series puts an end to the Beetle’s leadership and after 4 years on top passes the relay to the Volvo 240 Series in 1975. The VW Golf dominates the eighties as well as the nineties – if you have detailed models ranking from 1979 to 1992 please make sure to get in touch by commenting on this post! 

The VW Golf has been the best-selling model in Norway for the last 5 years

Over the last 15 years either a Volkswagen or a Toyota held the pole position in Norway: the Golf did so 8 times (1998-2000 and 2008-2012), the Passat was #1 three times in 2001 and 2006-2007, as was the Corolla in 2002-2003 and 2005 while the Avensis ranked first in 2004.

See ‘Read more’ below for the direct links to these 29 Historical Data articles!

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Peugeot 4008

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 1o0 best-selling models! Clicking on title to see *

The new car market in Norway is down 5% year-on-year in September to 11,134 registrations, however the year-to-date total is still 1% on 2011 at 104,199 units. The VW Golf is #1 for the third time in a row and the 10th time in the last 12 months with 461 sales and 4.1%, adding up to 4,714 units and 4.5% year-to-date. The Ford Focus is up 2 spots on last month to climb back into 2nd place which is also its 2012 year-to-date ranking. Exceptional performance of the Toyota Prius, up 8 ranks to a best-ever third position thanks to 324 sales and 3.9%. I suspect sales of Prius+ are included in this total. The Prius is now #18 year-to-date in Norway vs. #31 in 2011.

Toyota Prius+

The next 3 models are only 3 units apart! Below the VW Passat down one spot to #4, the Volvo V70 is up an impressive 14 ranks to #5 with 320 units and 2.9% (it is #6 year-to-date) while the Subaru XV is stable at #6 and 319 sales, and now up to #14 year-to-date. Notice also the Volvo V60 up 7 spots to #7, the Peugeot 208 up one to #14 and the Mazda CX-5 up a massive 15 ranks to #15.

Subaru XV

Norway confirms it is the most “electric car-friendly” country in Europe, with the Nissan Leaf up 2 spots to #11 with 257 units and 2.3%, the Citroen C-Zero breaking into the Top 20 at #19 with 161 units and 1.4%, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV up to #24 at 124 sales and 1.1% and the Peugeot iOn up to #81 with 34 units. For the first 3 models above, these are by far their highest ranking in the world…

Mitsubishi i-MiEV 

A few other newcomers get themselves noticed this month in Norway: building on the success of their twin the Mitsubishi ASX (#4 in 2011), the Peugeot 4008 is up to a world-best 30th position in September thanks to 116 sales and 1% share while the Citroen C4 Aircross is up to #54 with 72 units and 0.6%. Note also the Kia Cee’d up to #26 vs. #56 year-to-date and the Volvo V40 up to #36 vs. #117 YTD.

Previous month: Norway August 2012: Subaru XV up to #6

One year ago: Norway September 2011: VW Golf leads, Volvo in shape

Full 9 months 2012 Top 100 and September 2012 Top 80 Ranking Tables below.

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VW Caddy

* See the Top 20 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Alex *

Thanks to a tip from Alex, Norway is now the 5th country after China, France, Spain and the Netherlands to display a monthly Light Commercial Vehicles ranking. LCV sales are down 13% year-on-year in September to 2,562 registrations, bringing the 2012 year-to-date total to 23,674 units, down 6% on 2011. Volkswagen is by far the most successful brand in this segment in Norway and places two models in the Top 2. The VW Caddy is the most popular LCV in the country and has been since 2010. It sells 386 units in September for a 15.1% market share (down from 18.4% in August) adding up to 3,922 and 16.6% year-to-date.

The VW Transporter ranks 2nd both in September with 245 sales and 9.6% (down from 12.2% last month) and year-to-date at 2,644 units and 11.2%. The twins Peugeot Partner (8.4%) and Citroen Berlingo (6.8%) follow, way above their YTD levels (7% and 5.9%). Other great performers this month include the Ford Transit up 3 spots on August to #7, the Opel Combo up 8 to #10, the Peugeot Expert at #12 vs. #18 year-to-date and the Opel Vivaro at #15 vs. #20 year-to-date.

Norway Passenger Cars post: Norway September 2012: Toyota Prius up to #3, Peugeot 4008 in Top 30

Full September 2012 Top 20 Ranking Table below.

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Subaru XV

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 50 best-selling models! click on title to see – thanks to Alex *

Norwegian new car sales resist in August, up a respectable 3% year-on-year to 11,790 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 93,065 units, up 2% on 2011. As usual the VW Golf is the best-selling model in the country, selling 566 units this month for a 4.8% share and bringing its year-to-date to 4,253 sales and 4.6%. For the first time since last January, the Toyota Yaris is up to a formidable 2nd place thanks to 453 units and 3.8%. It is now #6 year-to-date at 2.7% share.

Nissan Leaf

The performance of the month in Norway is once again delivered by the Subaru XV, up 3 spots to a best-ever 6th place with a record 272 sales and 2.3% share. This is the 2nd highest ranking ever reached by the XV anywhere in the world below the #4 position it held in Switzerland last month. Other great performers in August in Norway include the VW Polo up 8 spots to #7, the Toyota Prius up 17 to #11, the Nissan Leaf also up 7 to #13, the Peugeot 208 up 21 to #15, the VW Beetle up to #33 vs. #78 year-to-date and the VW Up! up to #36 vs. #77

Previous month: Norway July 2012: Subaru XV breaks into Top 10

One year ago: Noway August 2011: Ford Focus up to #2, Hyundai i40 at #5

Full August 2012 Top 50 Ranking Table below.

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Subaru XV

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 50 best-selling models! Click on title to see *

New car sales in Norway continue to perform very solidly in a sluggish European environment, up 6% year-on-year in July to 11.920 registrations and bringing the year-to-date total to 81,275 units, up 2% on 2011. After being passed by the Ford Focus in June, the VW Golf is back in the Norwegian pole position, a place it has held 10 of the last 12 months. It sells 612 units for a 5.1% market share and leads year-to-date with 3,687 sales and 4.5%.

The VW Passat is up one spot to #2 with 420 units and 3.5%, followed by the Toyota Avensis at 3.2%, the Ford Focus down 3 spots to #4 with 3.1% share and the Skoda Octavia and VW Tiguan both at 3% share. But the big event this month is the arrival of the Subaru XV in the Norwegian monthly Top 10 at a brilliant 9th place with 263 sales and 2.2% share. It is now #19 year-to-date at 1,140 units and 1.4%, with Norway being by far the XV’s best performing country in the world. This record has since been beaten in Switzerland where the XV ranked #4 in July 2012.

Further down, the Skoda Superb gains 12 ranks to land at #16, the Mazda CX-5 maintains itself within the Top 20 for the second month in a row at #18 and the Skoda Yeti is up 10 to #25.

Previous month: Norway June 2012: Ford Focus leads, BMW X3 up to #11

One year ago: Norway July 2011: Toyota Avensis back on podium

Full July 2012 Top 20 Ranking Table below.

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