The Proton Saga reclaims the Malaysian pole position in a difficult context. The financial crisis hits the Malaysian new car market full frontal in 1998: sales implode down -58.7% to just 164.402 units, the lowest annual result since 1993 (151.776). In uncertain times, consumers tend to return to trusted values…
Opel Corsa * See the Top 30 best-selling models by clicking on 'Read more' at end of post! * Contrary to common belief, the Toyota Corolla has not been the best-selling car in the world each year since 1975. I do not have any official data for the 1975-96 period…
The Fiat Punto is the best-selling vehicle in Ireland in 1998. It's a 5th consecutive year in positive for the Irish new car market in 1998 at +6.6% to 145.715 registrations. This year it's Toyota (+23.5%) that spectacularly takes the lead of the brands ranking at 11.5% share, but it…
Toyota Tamaraw FX * See the Top 100 best-selling models by clicking on the title! - Thanks to myk for the data * If the Filipino car market loses only 11% in 1997 at 144,441 registrations, it plunges by 45% in 1998 at 80,193 units as a result of the…
Hyundai Accent * See the Top 235 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Thanks to Bill and Kostas * In 1998 Greek consumers bought 180,046 cars and 5% of them were a Hyundai Accent, making it the best-selling car in the country with 9,033 units sold. The Toyota Corolla…
VW Golf In 1998 the VW Golf celebrates its 18th consecutive year atop the German model ranking (it's an adult now!) with a 21% sales increase thanks to the arrival of the 4th generation launched in late 1997. The Golf nameplate is back above 300,000 annual sales with 338,550 units…
Daewoo Matiz The financial crisis hit the South Korean car market with a vengeance: going from 1,512,935 units in 1997 to 779,905 in 1998, a drop of 48%! Small cars are more popular this year with the Daewoo Matiz, just launched, taking the lead with 88,951 sales and 11.4% share…
Daewoo Tico * See the Top 50 best-selling models by clicking on the title! * The Polish car market is up a very healthy 8% in 1998 to 518,019 registrations. With the passage of relay from the Fiat Cinquecento to the Seicento launched this year, the models ranking gets completely…
The Hyundai Santro is the best-selling foreign nameplate in 1998 after just 4 months in market. * See the Top 17 All-brands and Top 40 All-models by clicking on the title * The Indian new vehicle market endures a 9.5% year-on-year drop in 1998 to 530.342 units. However brand leader…
Renault Clio * See the Top 100 best-selling models by clicking on 'Read more' at end of post! * French car sales are up a healthy 14% this year at 1,943,553 registrations. The race for the first place was very close, with the Renault Megane leading up until August. However…
Lada 112. Picture by www.autonavigator.ru * Now updated with detailed foreign models sales * A third popular model is added to the Lada range in 1996: the Lada 110 sedan, declined in station wagon (called 111) in 1998 and in hatchback (called 112) in 2000. In all likeliness, the Lada 110 Series…
The Chevrolet Corsa could be the best-selling model in Colombia from 1995 onwards * See the Top 30 best-selling brands in 1997-98 by clicking on the title! * I only have total sales data over the period and a brands ranking for the Full Year 1997 and the first 3…
The Chevrolet C/K Pickup lands at #5 in Mexico in 1997. New car sales in Mexico continue on their spectacular recovery in 1997 at +67.5% to 504.778 units. Chevrolet (+142%) more than doubles its sales year-on-year to leap from #3 to #1 brand, overtaking Nissan (+64%) while Ford (+89.4%) passes…
Opel Corsa * See the Top 20 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to José * After two years of interruption by the Fiat Punto in 1995 and 1996, the Opel Corsa reclaims the pole position in the Portuguese models ranking in 1996 and ranks Number 1 for…
The Polo scores its first Top 10 finish just as Volkswagen is #1 for the first time in 30 years. * See the Top 40 All-brands and Top 50 models by clicking on the title * New car sales in Finland gain another 8.6% in 1997 to cross the 100.000…