Renault 5 * See the Top 20 best-selling models by clicking on the title! * The French car market is down 2% in 1981 at 1,834,322 registrations and the Renault 5 delivers its second best year, down only 6% on an exceptional figure in 1980 at 282,486 sales and 15.4%…
Ford Cortina * See the Top 15 best-selling models by clicking on 'Read more' at end of post! * Helped by a facelift in 1979, the Ford Cortina leads the British car market in 1980 with 190,281 sales and in 1981 with 159,804. Ford monopolises the podium both years with…
Fiat 147, Chevrolet Chevette and VW Gol * Many thanks to Marcelo de Vasconcellos for the Quatro Rodas tip! * In 1981 and for the first time in almost 30 years, the best selling car in Brazil in not a Volkswagen... The title goes to the Fiat 147, helped by this…
Fiat 128 * Many thanks to Bruno for making this post possible! * 6 years after it last lodged a #1 finish, the Fiat 128 gets boosted by its facelift and becomes the best-selling model in Argentina in 1981. This would be the last time at that level of the…
VW Rabbit Once again we have a discrepancy in the #1 vehicle in the U.S. for 1981: Car and Driver places the Oldsmobile Cutlass in the lead with 454.188 sales (-3%) while other records don't even have that nameplate in the Top 10 and instead crown the Chevrolet Chevette with…
1978 Holden Commodore VB * See the Commodore and Falcon production figures by clicking on the title! * Holden launches the Commodore in November 1978 and installs the new nameplate at the #1 spot in the Australian market as soon as 1979. The Commodore will end up being Holden's most…
Fiat 127 * See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Andrea * Italian consumers bought 1,739,282 new cars in 1981. The Fiat 127 is the best-selling model in the country but the fight with the Fiat Ritmo was intense. Only 0.7% market share…
Mercedes W123 * See 'Read more' for the Top 100 best-selling models! Thanks Florian for the data * It's an excellent year for Mercedes with the W123 interrupting the VW Golf reign after 5 years on top with 202,252 sales vs. 200,892 for the Golf. 1980 would be the last…
Datsun is the best-selling brand and the Cherry is the best-selling model in Finland in 1980. * See the Top 50 All-brands and Top 50 models by clicking on the title * New car sales in Finland gain 3.9% year-on-year in 1980 to 103.184 units, and Datsun takes off to…
1980 Toyota Corolla The oldest official world models ranking I could access dates back from 1980. It shows how clearly the Toyota Corolla dominates world sales. With almost 775,000 units sold around the world that year, it has an advance of more than 250,000 units over the #2, the Renault…
Renault 12 * Many thanks to Bruno for making this post possible! * After being interrupted by the Ford Falcon in 1979, the Renault 12 is the best-selling model in Argentina in 1980 for the 4th time in the last 5 years and in total.
Renault 5 (I couldn't find a proper picture of the 4-door version!) * See the Top 20 best-selling models by clicking on 'Read more' at end of post! * French consumers bought 1,873,202 new cars in 1980. Helped by the launch of the 4 door version in July 1979, the…
VW Brasilia VW Fusca production in Brazil peaked at over 250,000 units in 1972 but has been slowing down since. In 1977, the drop accelerates to -22% at 161,004 units or 166,828 sales. This puts the Fusca's best selling car title under threat by another VW star: the Brasilia. In…
Ford Fiesta Renault 5 Seat Ritmo 560,000 new cars found a buyer in Spain in 1980, and two models dominate the ranking this year: the Ford Fiesta is on top with 56,900 sales and 10.2% share, just above the Renault 5 at 55,120 units and 9.9%. The Seat Ritmo rounds…
1980-1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais There is conflicting information about the best-selling model in the US in 1980. Car and Driver affirms the Oldsmobile Cutlass is on top of the overall US models ranking with 469.573 sales. Another source places the Chevrolet Citation in pole position with 374.706 sales just above…