Europe March 2012: Nissan Qashqai & Toyota Yaris break records!

Nissan Qashqai

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

Car sales in Europe are down 7% both in March at 1,497,855 registrations and year-to-date at 3,433,957 units. Below the VW Golf very solid at 52,933 sales, up 1% year-on-year, the Ford Fiesta is back into 2nd place at 47,888 units ahead of the Opel Corsa with 38,809 sales, both pushed by the traditionally strong month of March in the UK due to the new number plates. But the top of the ranking is not what has made this month a historical month in Europe…

If you’ve been checking out Best Selling Cars Blog regularly over the last couple of weeks you saw it coming: delivering best-ever performances in Germany, France, the UK, Ireland (#1), Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Czech Republic and #2 in Spain, the Nissan Qashqai logically reaches its highest ever position in Europe at a fantastic 7th place with 30,237 sales, by far its strongest volume ever. 5 years after its original launch, this is the culmination (so far) of a crazy bet from Nissan that hasn’t stopped surprising by its exceptional success: the Nissan Qashqai is now the highest ranking Japanese model ever in Europe!

Toyota Yaris

But wait there’s more: helped by a record-breaking showing in the UK where it reached a best-ever 8th position, the Toyota Yaris breaks into the European monthly Top 10 for the very first time at #10 with 22,856 sales and 1.5% market share, up 18% year-on-year and bringing its year-to-date total to 48,789 units, up 13% and close to the Top 10 while it ranked #27 in 2011. It is the first time ever that 2 Japanese models rank within the European monthly Top 10 simultaneously! Interestingly they are both produced in Europe: the Qashqai in the UK and the Yaris in France…

I told you it was a historical month…

Previous month: Europe February 2012: Ford Focus on podium, Fiat Panda in Top 10

One year ago: Europe March 2011: VW Golf strong, Fiat Punto back in Top 10

Full March 2012 Top 10 Ranking Table below.