Europe 2003: Peugeot 206 most popular, Golf down to #2

Peugeot 206

* See the Top 100 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

5 years after its launch and after missing the title by only 500 units last year, the Peugeot 206 finally becomes the best selling car in Europe in 2003. It is the first time a Peugeot ever achieves this feat, and only the second time in 21 years the VW Golf is not #1 (after the Fiat Punto ranked first in 1997).

The Peugeot 206 leads with 551,481 sales (-7%), a comfortable margin over the Golf which is under the 500,000 sales mark for the first time in over 15 years at 494,832 units, down 17% on 2002. The Golf 5, launched in November 2003, should bring the spark back into the nameplate’s sales next year. The Renault Clio is down 8% to 461,369 sales but this is enough to land on the podium for the first time since 1991 at #3.

Renault Clio

The Peugeot 307 has another extremely solid year at 446,172 units, up 1% and is now #2 in its category behind only the VW Golf, with the Ford Focus down 15% to #5. The Renault Megane is back in the Top 10, up 6 spots and 36% to #8 with 354,814 sales while the Opel Astra dives down to #9 (-19%). The Citroen C3 takes off: up 130% and 21 spots on 2002 to #12 with 313,747 sales. Notice also the Nissan Micra up 12 ranks to #25, the Audi A3 up 6 to #30, the Opel Meriva landing directly at #35, the Mazda6 at #48 and the VW Touran directly #47 with 91,602 units.

Previous year: Europe 2002: VW Golf only 500 units above Peugeot 206

Next year: Europe 2004: VW Golf, Peugeot 206 and 307 on podium

Full Year 2003 Top 100 Ranking Table and every model’s sales below.