Europe 2007: Peugeot 207 edges VW Golf out

Peugeot 207

* See the Top 80 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

The European models ranking reaches the height of its competitiveness in 2007 with 6 models holding the pole position at one stage this year. The Peugeot 207, for its first full year of sales, manages to become Europe’s best seller with 437,262 sales, up 105%. At the start of the year, its best European position was #4 (October 2006). It hits #2 in February and takes the lead for the first time in April, staying there for 4 consecutive months, a feat no other car had achieved since the VW Golf in 2004.

VW Golf

After an extremely weak first half (it was #7 in January, February and March!), The VW Golf fares much better in the 2nd half of the year and misses the overall top spot by only 1,652 sales to rank #2 with 435,610 units. It held the top spot 4 times: in August and from October to December. Laborious leader in 2005 and 2006, the Opel Astra drops to #3 in 2007 with 424,509 units, followed by the Ford Focus at 406,944.

Opel Corsa

The Opel Corsa, completely relaunched in late 2006, starts the year with a huge bang and ranks #1 in January! It is the very first time it reaches this spot in Europe in the 25-year life of the nameplate! The Corsa is even #1 over the first Quarter and finishes the year 5th, again a personal best, with 402,092 units, up 42%. The Fiat Punto was #1 in February, taking advantage of a very strong Italian market, but drops to #7 over the full year, down 6% on 2006.

The Toyota Yaris reaches a best-ever 12th spot at year-end with a record 256,267 sales, by far the best ranking for any Japanese model in Europe and the first time a nippon car sells upwards of 250,000 units in a single year on the continent. The Fiat Panda is up 3 spots to #13, the Audi A3 up 4 to break into the European Top 20 for the first time at #19, the Citroen C4 Picasso lands at #24 and the Toyota Auris at #34.

Previous year: Europe 2006: Opel Astra triumphs, Focus and Clio close behind

Next year: Europe 2008: VW Golf defies the GFC

Full Year 2007 Top 80, every Monthly Top 10 Ranking Tables and every model’s sales below.