World First Half 2020: Discover the Top 800 best-selling cars globally

The Chevrolet Silverado breaks into the global Top 5. Picture trucktrend.com

Our Full Year 2019 Top 1300 best-selling cars article has been so popular that we are back for the same exercise, this time studying the Top 800 best-selling cars in the world halfway through 2020. To create this much-anticipated ranking, we have compiled sales data for 75 markets worldwide, covering 99% of global sales over the period. If you came across different 2020 worldwide models rankings elsewhere, chances are they are incomplete as they do not take into account as many markets’ official sales as we do. As always and to ensure our calculations are transparent, complete notes are included in the data table to show which variants, generations and rebadges are included for each nameplate, as often a car can be sold under various names and/or brands depending on the region. If a nameplate you are expecting doesn’t come up, look it up by searching the word in the page and it will lead you straight to it on the table, either as a main nameplate in the ranking or as a side note.

The Toyota Corolla easily remains the best-selling car in the world.

The Covid-19 pandemic is wrecking havoc in most markets, with global sales tumbling down -27.7% year-on-year so far in 2020, equivalent to 12.5 million units lost. Yet a close look at the most popular cars in the world in comparison with last year clearly shows some segments have been less affected than others. The most blatant: American large pickup trucks in North America and Chinese light commercial vehicles, two segments that have resisted better than average, with pickup trucks down just -10% in the US and LCVs actually up 0.7% in China. The pole position remains unchanged, with the Toyota Corolla headed towards a 16th consecutive year as the most popular vehicle on the planet and crossing the 600.000 unit milestone halfway through 2020. 42% of its H1 total comes from China where it is also sold as the Levin, 21% from North America, 10% from Europe and “just” 9.5% from its Japan home. Check out our test drive of the Australian Corolla hatch here.

The Toyota RAV4 is threatening the Ford F-Series for the #2 spot.

The second global spot is turning out to be a hotly contested race this year, with the Ford F-Series edging forward for less than 4.000 units. However at 433.000 so far, it seems unlikely the F-Series will be able to cross the symbolic 1 million annual sales mark for the 4th time after 2004, 2017, 2018 and 2019. If North America still accounts for 99% of the F-Series global volume, it has failed to capitalise on the segment’s strength unlike its direct followers as we’ll see further down. The Toyota RAV4 was over 100.000 units below the F-Series over the Full Year 2019, a gap it has reduced to less than 4.000 at the 2020 halfway mark. If North America remains the RAV4’s strongest market by far at 49% of its total, its 2020 figure is (finally) boosted by record sales in China which accounts for 20% of its global total vs. just 15% last year, a ratio that is bound to increase by the time 2020 comes to an end. Check out our 11.000 km RAV4 adventure here. The Honda CR-V remains the 2nd best-selling SUV in the world but now stands over 100.000 units below the RAV4, despite the success of its Breeze rebadge in China.

The Wuling Mini Truck soars to #13 in the world halfway through 2020.

Best illustrating the strength of U.S. large pickup trucks is the Chevrolet Silverado soaring 7 spots on its FY2019 ranking to land at a fantastic 5th place overall with just under 300.000 units. The new generation is a runaway success in the U.S. and accordingly, North America represents 99.7% of the Silverado’s global sales. Only 2.500 units below is the Ram Pickup, also on the up, this time two spots, to #6. Check out our 2014 US Coast to Coast adventure with a Ram 1500 here and our 2015 US North to South voyage in a Ram 2500 here. The Toyota Camry returns inside the Top 10 at #8 vs. #11 over the FY2019, and the three aforementioned nameplates’ success this year mean the Honda Civic (-2), VW Tiguan (-3) and Nissan X-Trail (-3) all fall down the charts albeit remain among the 10 best-selling vehicles in the world. You can also consult our quick test drives for the Honda CR-V, VW Tiguan and Nissan X-Trail here. The most impressive example of the extraordinary resilience of Light Commercials in China is the Wuling Mini Truck, best-seller in the category, surging almost 20 spots on last year: from #31 in FY2019 to #13 halfway through 2020 with over 210.000 units finding a new home. The Foton Light Trucks also climbs up to #18, while Volkswagen manages to place an an additional 4 nameplates inside the Top 20 (vs. 3 in 2019): the Golf (#14), Polo (#17), Passat (#19) and Jetta (#20).

The Kia Seltos topples the VW T-Cross to become the best-selling 2019 launch.

Below, impressive climbs include the Mercedes GLC Class up 13 to #23, the Tesla Model 3 up 37 to #25 with China now accounting for 32% of its global sales vs. 47% for North America and 20% for Europe, the BMW 3 Series up 16 to #26, the Toyota Yaris up 17 to #36 as the new generation launched at home in Japan, the GMC Sierra up 30 to #38 as it surfs on U.S. pickup resilience, the Hyundai Kona up 28 to #44 and the Ford Explorer up 49 to #56. Among 2019 launches, the Kia Seltos fares best at a very impressive 42nd spot, already teasing the Sportage for the title of Kia’s worldwide best-seller. We drove the Seltos in Australia here. It topples the VW T-Cross (#53), with the Toyota Raize (#108), Mazda CX-30 (#116), Hyundai Palisade (#127), Chevrolet Monza (#163), Hyundai Venue (#171), BYD Song Pro (#192) and Great Wall P-Series (#197) in tow.

The Ford Puma is the most popular 2020 launch in the world so far.

In the race for the most popular 2020 launch worldwide (note this is not a ranking of models launched in the past 12 months as we usually do, but nameplates wholesales started in 2020), the Ford Puma is tops for now at #245 with just above 36.000 units, exclusively in Europe. The Buick Encore GX follows over 100 ranks below at #363 with 21.000 sales, benefitting from a simultaneous launch in North America and China. Then we have the Wuling Hongguang Plus at #402 with 17.000 units sold exclusively in China, the Genesis GV80 at #405 also with just above 17.000 sales including 11 in the Middle East, its only export market for now. The Tata Altroz follows at #457 with just under 13.000 sales, above the Jetta VS7 (#472), Changan UNI-T (#572), Lynk & Co 05 (#603), Daihatsu Taft (#619) and Chana Raesor M60 (#629).

Here is a sneak peek at what BSCB Platinum Members have access to below the Paywall:

Worldwide First Half 2020 best-selling models:

Check also: World Full Year 2019: Discover the Top 1300 best-selling cars

Previous World monthly post: World July 2020: Sales down -6.8% to highest SAAR since January, China drives recovery, Latin America stalls

Full H1 2020 Top 800 models ranking including Full Year 2019 figures below.