World 6 months 2013: Discover all the #1 models in 160 countries!

The Toyota Hilux is #1 in an estimated 35 countries. Picture by GFWilliams, all rights reserved.

NOW UPDATED with actuals for 9 Middle Eastern countries including Lebanon, UAE and Saudi Arabia.

* See the full list of 57 models #1 in at least one country by clicking on the title! *

Now that most official sales data is in for the first half of 2013, I can share with you the list of all models that have managed to rank #1 in at least one country over the period. This list is exclusive to BestSellingCarsBlog, you will not find it anywhere else! To refresh your memory you can see the 2012 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 ranked #1 in any country. If no 2013 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.

The Fiat 500L is #1 in Serbia

Toyota places no less than 9 models in pole position in at least one country, compared to 10 in 2012. The next best performing brands are Ford and Hyundai both with 5 models at #1, Fiat with 4 and Chevrolet, Kia and Volkswagen all with 3. Notable new members of the #1 club in 2013 are the Fiat 500L (in Serbia) and Kia Sportage (in Azerbaijan and Bulgaria). The Toyota Hilux is still by far the model to rank #1 in the most amount of countries: an estimated 35, albeit including 24 in Africa where the volumes are very low. Out of the estimated 35 countries where the Hilux is potentially #1, 8 have been confirmed with official data.

The Hyundai Accent is #1 in Egypt (old gen), Panama and Ukraine and estimated #1 in Cuba and Mongolia.

The Toyota Corolla is estimated to be #1 in 15 countries, including 4 confirmed, followed by the VW Golf which thanks to its 7th generation is now #1 in 13 countries vs. 10 in 2012, 10 of them confirmed and all in Europe. We then a surprise: the Toyota Prado #1 in 6 countries including 3 confirmed and the Hyundai Accent #1 in 5 countries (3 confirmed as well).

The Pyeonghwa Samchunri is estimated to be #1 in North Korea.

There are 3 models managing a #1 spot in 4 countries: the Skoda Octavia, Toyota Camry and Yaris but while the Octavia is confirmed with official data in all 4 countries, only 2 out of 4 are confirmed for the Yaris and for the Camry all 4 countries are BSCB estimates, most of them in Central Asia where official data is unavailable. There are 5 models #1 in 3 countries, 15 #1 in two (including the VW Up!, new at this level) and 29 #1 in just one nation so far in 2013.

Email matt@bestsellingcarsblog.com for a more in-depth analysis of any market in the list.

Previous post: World Full Year 2012: All the #1 in 170 countries!

See ‘Read more’ for the full list of all 57 #1 models and which countries they top.