Hamartia Antidote
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2013
- Messages
- 35,188
- Reaction score
- 30
- Country
- Location
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/car-connections/best-selling-cars-around-the-world/ss-BBGzyLi#image=1
Tastes vary from one country to another, so it should be no surprise that the same goes for the automotive industry. Top-selling cars from one part of the world are often nowhere to be seen elsewhere.
We've chosen a variety of countries and looked at which cars are the most popular in that market. As you will see, sometimes it's just down to nationalism, but other factors come into play such as terrain and location of factories.
ITALY
With new car registrations totalling 166,956, September 2017 was the single best month since 2009 for Italy. The evergreen Fiat Panda is comfortably the biggest-selling car in Italy, followed by the Lancia Ypsilon, Fiat Tipo and Fiat 500. The VW Golf is the most popular foreign car at number 5.
UNITED STATES
Americans are mad about pick-ups, and the Ford F Series has been the best-selling vehicle since 1981 and the best-selling pick-up since 1977! It's followed by two other pick-ups – the Chevrolet Silverado and RAM, then SUVs in the shape of the Toyota RAV4 and Nissan Rogue.
INDIA
India's largest car maker is Maruti Suzuki India – a partnership between between Maruti Udyog Ltd and Suzuki of Japan. Six of the top 10 cars are Maruti Suzukis, led by the Dzire, Alto, Baleno and WagonR. The first foreign car is South Korea's Hyundai in fifth with the i10 Grand.
FRANCE
French motorists are loyal to their own brands. In the first nine months of 2017, new car registrations in France rose 3.9% to 1.6 million vehicles. Renault remained the top-selling brand with the Clio leading the way as the most popular model. Peugeots occupied the next four places in the September chart with the 208, 3008, 2008 and 308.
JAPAN
Car sales in Japan fell 1.7% in September, compared to a year earlier, to 372,470 units. So far in 2017, Toyota is still Japan’s top car manufacturer, while the Prius is the top-selling model, followed by the Nissan Note. Toyota, Honda and Nissan totally dominate Japan's top 10 cars.
CHINA
The world's biggest car market has grown by 5% in 2017, and sales in September alone hit 2.71 million, including 77,000 EVs. In the first nine months of 2017, the Wuling Hongguang MPV has been the top-selling car, just ahead of the Volkswagen Lavida – a China-only car similar in size to the Skoda Octavia.
AUSTRALIA
Australians have a love affair with the "ute" so it's no surprise to find the Ford Ranger topping the charts, though it was closely followed by the Toyota Hilux and Toyota Corolla in the September top 10. The Ranger is also the top dog in neighbouring New Zealand.
CZECH REPUBLIC
New car registrations in the Czech Republic rose by 6.6% in the first nine months of 2017 to 205,511 vehicles, easily on target to overtake the highest annual registrations set in 2016. Homegrown Skoda has a 31% market share (followed by VW with 10%) and half the top 10 is made up of Skoda cars with the Octavia and Fabia leading the way.
UNITED KINGDOM
Up until 2017, the undisputed champion in the UK was the Ford Fiesta, which has been Britain’s best-seller for eight years. However, 2017 saw the transition from seventh to eighth generation, so it hasn't maintained its top spot in all the monthly charts. However, it’s still by far the UK's most popular car in 2017 as a whole, ahead of the Ford Focus and VW Golf
SOUTH KOREA
The South Korean car market is dominated by homegrown brands, with Hyundai and Kia leading the way. September 2017 was a bumper month with sales up 20.1% to 133,551. The Hyundai Grandeur medium-sized saloon is the biggest selling model, followed by the face-lifted Kia Sorento and Hyundai Porter.
TURKEY
Volkswagen was the biggest car brand in Turkey in September with a 14.3% share, followed by Fiat (13.6%) and Renault (12.8%), but it was the Fiat Aegea (known elsewhere in Europe as the Tipo) that was the most popular model, ahead of the VW Passat and Renault Clio.
BRAZIL
The South American-only Chevrolet Onix is the best-selling car in Brazil, where it's also manufactured. The Brazilian market boomed in September 2017, up 24% – its best performance for three years. The recently launched Renault Kwid crossover (initially intended for the Indian market) shot to second place in the chart.
SWEDEN
The Swedish car market was shocked when it was revealed that the country's best-selling car in 2016 was not a Volvo – the first year that has happened in more than half a century. Instead, the Volkswagen Golf topped sales, but normal service has been resumed in 2017 with the Golf slipping to third and the Volvo XC60 taking the top spot, followed by the Volvo S90/V90.
Russia
By the end of September 2017, the Russian car market was up 11%. One of the biggest winners was South Korean car maker Kia with 40% growth, though it still trails homegrown brand leader, Lada. The Kia Rio (the Russians get a saloon version too) is currently the best-selling car, followed by the Lada Granta.
South Africa
A total of 50,675 new cars were registered in South Africa in September 2017 – that's an increase of 7% year-on-year. Toyota was the biggest-selling brand with a 22% share with the indestructible Toyota Hilux (3,995) being top dog, ahead of the Volkswagen Polo Vivo (2,942) and Ford Ranger (2,337).
Hungary
Hungary's car market is booming, up 19% in the first nine months of 2017 to 82,660 new registrations. Given its geographical location, you might expect the most popular models to be Volkswagens or Skodas. However, it's the Suzuki Vitara that dominates the market. Magyar Suzuki Corporation manufactures the Vitara SUV at its giant plant in Esztergom, Hungary, so maybe it’s not so surprising.
Germany
Sales of new cars in Germany – Europe's biggest car market – rose 3.9% to 272,855 in October, meaning it's on course for 3.5 million registrations in 2017 overall. Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW are the most popular brands, while the VW Golf outsells every other model by 3:1. The Mercedes Benz C-Class moved up to second place from fourth in September, followed by the VW Passat, Tiguan and Polo.
Tastes vary from one country to another, so it should be no surprise that the same goes for the automotive industry. Top-selling cars from one part of the world are often nowhere to be seen elsewhere.
We've chosen a variety of countries and looked at which cars are the most popular in that market. As you will see, sometimes it's just down to nationalism, but other factors come into play such as terrain and location of factories.
ITALY
With new car registrations totalling 166,956, September 2017 was the single best month since 2009 for Italy. The evergreen Fiat Panda is comfortably the biggest-selling car in Italy, followed by the Lancia Ypsilon, Fiat Tipo and Fiat 500. The VW Golf is the most popular foreign car at number 5.
UNITED STATES
Americans are mad about pick-ups, and the Ford F Series has been the best-selling vehicle since 1981 and the best-selling pick-up since 1977! It's followed by two other pick-ups – the Chevrolet Silverado and RAM, then SUVs in the shape of the Toyota RAV4 and Nissan Rogue.
INDIA
India's largest car maker is Maruti Suzuki India – a partnership between between Maruti Udyog Ltd and Suzuki of Japan. Six of the top 10 cars are Maruti Suzukis, led by the Dzire, Alto, Baleno and WagonR. The first foreign car is South Korea's Hyundai in fifth with the i10 Grand.
FRANCE
French motorists are loyal to their own brands. In the first nine months of 2017, new car registrations in France rose 3.9% to 1.6 million vehicles. Renault remained the top-selling brand with the Clio leading the way as the most popular model. Peugeots occupied the next four places in the September chart with the 208, 3008, 2008 and 308.
JAPAN
Car sales in Japan fell 1.7% in September, compared to a year earlier, to 372,470 units. So far in 2017, Toyota is still Japan’s top car manufacturer, while the Prius is the top-selling model, followed by the Nissan Note. Toyota, Honda and Nissan totally dominate Japan's top 10 cars.
CHINA
The world's biggest car market has grown by 5% in 2017, and sales in September alone hit 2.71 million, including 77,000 EVs. In the first nine months of 2017, the Wuling Hongguang MPV has been the top-selling car, just ahead of the Volkswagen Lavida – a China-only car similar in size to the Skoda Octavia.
AUSTRALIA
Australians have a love affair with the "ute" so it's no surprise to find the Ford Ranger topping the charts, though it was closely followed by the Toyota Hilux and Toyota Corolla in the September top 10. The Ranger is also the top dog in neighbouring New Zealand.
CZECH REPUBLIC
New car registrations in the Czech Republic rose by 6.6% in the first nine months of 2017 to 205,511 vehicles, easily on target to overtake the highest annual registrations set in 2016. Homegrown Skoda has a 31% market share (followed by VW with 10%) and half the top 10 is made up of Skoda cars with the Octavia and Fabia leading the way.
UNITED KINGDOM
Up until 2017, the undisputed champion in the UK was the Ford Fiesta, which has been Britain’s best-seller for eight years. However, 2017 saw the transition from seventh to eighth generation, so it hasn't maintained its top spot in all the monthly charts. However, it’s still by far the UK's most popular car in 2017 as a whole, ahead of the Ford Focus and VW Golf
SOUTH KOREA
The South Korean car market is dominated by homegrown brands, with Hyundai and Kia leading the way. September 2017 was a bumper month with sales up 20.1% to 133,551. The Hyundai Grandeur medium-sized saloon is the biggest selling model, followed by the face-lifted Kia Sorento and Hyundai Porter.
TURKEY
Volkswagen was the biggest car brand in Turkey in September with a 14.3% share, followed by Fiat (13.6%) and Renault (12.8%), but it was the Fiat Aegea (known elsewhere in Europe as the Tipo) that was the most popular model, ahead of the VW Passat and Renault Clio.
BRAZIL
The South American-only Chevrolet Onix is the best-selling car in Brazil, where it's also manufactured. The Brazilian market boomed in September 2017, up 24% – its best performance for three years. The recently launched Renault Kwid crossover (initially intended for the Indian market) shot to second place in the chart.
SWEDEN
The Swedish car market was shocked when it was revealed that the country's best-selling car in 2016 was not a Volvo – the first year that has happened in more than half a century. Instead, the Volkswagen Golf topped sales, but normal service has been resumed in 2017 with the Golf slipping to third and the Volvo XC60 taking the top spot, followed by the Volvo S90/V90.
Russia
By the end of September 2017, the Russian car market was up 11%. One of the biggest winners was South Korean car maker Kia with 40% growth, though it still trails homegrown brand leader, Lada. The Kia Rio (the Russians get a saloon version too) is currently the best-selling car, followed by the Lada Granta.
South Africa
A total of 50,675 new cars were registered in South Africa in September 2017 – that's an increase of 7% year-on-year. Toyota was the biggest-selling brand with a 22% share with the indestructible Toyota Hilux (3,995) being top dog, ahead of the Volkswagen Polo Vivo (2,942) and Ford Ranger (2,337).
Hungary
Hungary's car market is booming, up 19% in the first nine months of 2017 to 82,660 new registrations. Given its geographical location, you might expect the most popular models to be Volkswagens or Skodas. However, it's the Suzuki Vitara that dominates the market. Magyar Suzuki Corporation manufactures the Vitara SUV at its giant plant in Esztergom, Hungary, so maybe it’s not so surprising.
Germany
Sales of new cars in Germany – Europe's biggest car market – rose 3.9% to 272,855 in October, meaning it's on course for 3.5 million registrations in 2017 overall. Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW are the most popular brands, while the VW Golf outsells every other model by 3:1. The Mercedes Benz C-Class moved up to second place from fourth in September, followed by the VW Passat, Tiguan and Polo.
Last edited:
Thirdly, we are more environment conscious such as less petrol consumption and last but not least, our public transportation is miles ahead of any US cities and we have better sidewalks and bike lanes.
