World: All the #1 models in 160 countries!

The Hyundai Accent is #1 in 5 countries across the world

* See the full list by clicking on the title! *

Now that most official sales data is in for the first 5 months of the year we can start looking at the #1 models around the world in the year-to-date rankings so far in 2012. This is an exercise that only Best Selling Cars Blog indulges in and you can see the 2011 summary here. Note this is not a reflection of the highest worldwide sales volumes which are the object of another post, only how many times a specific model manages to rank #1 in any country. If no 2012 ranking is available, the most recent data is used and for only a couple of countries I couldn’t allocate a #1 as information was too scarce.

Vietnam is the only country in the world where the Toyota Fortuner is #1

Toyota places no less than 10 models in pole position in at least one country, compared to 8 in 2011 – the Fortuner (in Vietnam) and Avensis (in Finland) being added to the list. Chevrolet & Ford have 5, Hyundai has 4 and Nissan & Volkswagen have 3. Notable new members of the #1 club in 2012 are the Nissan Juke (in Latvia) and the Dacia Duster (in New Caledonia).

The Nissan Juke ranks #1 for the first time in Latvia

The Toyota Hilux is still by far the model to rank #1 in the most amount of countries: an estimated 34, albeit including 23 in Africa where the volumes are very low. Out of the estimated 34 countries where the Hilux is potentially #1, 7 have been confirmed with official data. The Toyota Corolla is estimated to be #1 in 17 countries, including 3 confirmed. The Corolla is the only model to rank #1 in at least one country of each continent: Africa, Asia, Europe, America and Oceania.

The VW Golf follows, #1 in 7 countries all confirmed and all in Europe, then we find the Hyundai Accent/Verna #1 in 5 countries including Mongolia (estimated), Chile (new) and Panama. The Skoda Octavia is #1 in 5 Eastern European countries, down from 8 in 2011 while the Toyota Camry is #1 in 5 countries but this is to be taken with caution as they are all BSCB’s estimates.

The Chevrolet Aveo, Toyota Land Cruiser and Toyota Yaris/Vios are all #1 in 4 countries. There are 5 models #1 in 3 countries, 13 cars #1 in 2 countries and 32 models #1 in just one country.

See ‘Read more’ for the full list of all 59 #1 models and which countries they top.