The best-selling cars in Europe in 2017 so far

Who rules the roost on the continent?

1 November 2017

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Here's the latest official sales data for Europe, for 2017 until the end of October.

We all know that the UK loves the Ford Fiesta, but which cars are top dog across Europe? The data is all from market analysts JATO Dynamics.
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Austria: Volkswagen Golf

Austria has no mainstream car-makers of its own, so the top-seller can’t be from a domestic manufacturer. 10,912 buyers have flocked to the VW Golf so far in 2017, while the next two are also from the VW Group: the Skoda Octavia, at 7372, and the Tiguan at 7192 sales.
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Belgium: Volkswagen Golf

The Belgians love the Golf too - the Golf is most popular, followed by the Renault Clio and Hyundai Tucson. 11,152, 8685 and 8470 have found owners for the three models in 2017.
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Croatia: Skoda Octavia

Last year, the best-sellers in Croatia were the Nissan Qashqai and Toyota Yaris, while this year, the Skoda Octavia, Renault Clio and Volkswagen Golf take the top three slots so far, with 2101, 2025 and 1723 sales, respectively.
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Czechia: Skoda Octavia

The Czechs love their home-grown champion - the Skoda Octavia has sold 19,988 units and the second-best-seller was the Fabia, which shifted 16,532. In fact, half of the country’s top ten best-sellers are Skodas. The Rapid takes third, with 8444 sold so far.
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Denmark: Peugeot 208

Peugeot’s only top spot in Europe is currently in Denmark, where 7492 208s have sold in 2017 so far, while the next best-seller was the Volkswagen Up, with 5408 sales. In third place is the Nissan Qashqai; 4839 have sold so far this year.
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Estonia: Skoda Octavia

Estonia likes slightly larger cars and the Skoda Octavia takes top spot having sold 1033 cars, while 728 and 697 sales put the Toyota Avensis and Toyota RAV4 in second and third place respectively.
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Finland: Skoda Octavia

It's the Octavia again, this time in Finland. 4510 have been sold there in 2017. Second place was taken by the Nissan Qashqai, with 3932 sales. The VW Golf is in third place with 3028 sales.
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France: Renault Clio

France loves the Renault Clio, with sales of 86,542 so far in 2017. The Peugeot 208 is in second place, with 73,591 units sold, while the other French supermini, the Citroën C3, is in third with 54,865. Only one car, the Dacia Sandero, in France’s top ten for 2016 wasn’t from France, but even then, Dacia is owned by Renault.
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Germany: Volkswagen Golf

Germany is the world's fourth largest car market, and the largest in the EU. Volkswagen takes both first and third places in its home market, with Golf selling 129,514 cars. It sells so well that second-place Mercedes-Benz C-Class sold less than half this number; at 54,544, while VW's Passat follows just behind on 54,317. The Opel Astra and Corsa – fifth and tenth with 65,197 and 55196 sales – were the only non-German-owned cars in the top ten in 2016.
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Greece: Toyota Yaris

The Toyota Yaris is the best-selling car in Greece, with 4135 cars sold, with second-place Opel Corsa in second place with 2760 units sold. In third is the Fiat Panda; 2594 have found owners since January 1st.
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Hungary: Suzuki Vitara

Hungary loves the Suzuki Vitara, possibly helped by the fact that it's made there - the Vitara sold 6285 examples there in 2016. The Skoda Octavia sold 3820 in second place, and the Opel Astra has sold 3160, in third.
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Ireland: Hyundai Tucson

The Tucson was the best-selling car in Ireland in 2016 and remains in the top slot for 2017 so far, having sold 4869 units. The Volkswagen Golf, meanwhile, sold 4357, and the Nissan Qashqai completes the top three, with 4124 sold.
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Italy: Fiat Panda

The Fiat Panda is the best-selling car in Italy so far this year, with 113,087 finding homes. The Lancia Ypsilon was second, with 48,776 sales. The Fiat 500, having shifted 48,318, was a close third. It was a 60/40 split between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group vehicles and other car-makers in Italy last year, with the Renault Clio, Ford Fiesta, and Volkswagens Polo and Golf all represented in the top ten, too.
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Latvia: Nissan Qashqai

Latvia is not the largest car market in Europe, but nevertheless, the Qashqai does best, with 625 sold. The VW Golf came in second, having sold 490 units, while the third-place Kia Sportage sold 454.
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Lithuania: Fiat 500

The 500 has sold 2574 so far in 2017 in Lithuania, while the Skoda Octavia is the second best-seller, on 723. The Fiat 500X sneaks into third, with 682 sales.
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Luxembourg: Volkswagen Golf

The Volkswagen Golf is in the top spot in the Duchy, with 1282 sales. The VW Tiguan is in second and the Audi A3 third, with 1169 and 852 sales respectively.
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Netherlands: Renault Clio

The Volkswagen Golf has been ousted from its top spot in Holland and is now out of the top three altogether - the Renault Clio, Opel Karl (known as the Vauxhall Viva in the UK), and Volkswagen Up have come in, with 8671, 8065 and 8010 sales.
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Norway: Volkswagen Golf

The Volkswagen Golf is the best-selling car in Norway so far this year, with 8323 sold. The BMW i3 is in second place, with 3749 units. The Passat is in third place, with 3640 sold.
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Poland: Skoda Octavia

Another top two in Poland for Skoda, with the Octavia and Fabia taking first and second place; the Octavia selling 14,002 and Fabia with 13,472 sales. The Opel Astra is third, on 11,784.
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Portugal: Renault Clio

The Renault Clio has sold 10,246 so far in 2017, as the country’s best-seller - the Peugeot 208 sold 5922, while the Renault Mégane has sold 5068.
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Romania: Dacia Logan

Dacia took its home market by storm in 2016, and continues to do so. The Logan and Duster make up the top two, with the former finding homes in 12,491 garages, with the latter sold 4801. The Sandero takes fourth place, and Skoda Octavia slips in at third in the Romanian market, with 2931.
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Slovakia: Skoda Fabia

The Skoda Octavia sells the best in Slovakia, while the Fabia, isn’t far behind. The Octavia has sold 3944, and the Fabia has sold 3894, only just behind. The Rapid, in third place, has sold 2880.
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Slovenia: Peugeot 3008

The top spot in Slovenia goes to the Peugeot 3008, with 3828 sales. The Renault Clio slips to second, with 2766 sales, ahead of the Volkswagen Golf, which sold 2482. The Clio will soon be built in Slovenia in facelifted form, which should help sales there.
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Spain: Seat Ibiza

The new Seat Ibiza and Leon take first and second places in Spain, with 27,623 and 26,403 sales. The Opel Corsa is in third place with 21,920 sales.
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Sweden: Volvo XC60

Eyebrows were raised last year when the VW Golf took the lead in Sweden’s car market from Volvo. Volvo is back on top now with the new XC60 on 19,109, followed by the also new S90 and V90, with 16,226 sales. Golf is now in third place with 13,375 sales.
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Switzerland: Skoda Octavia

The Skoda Octavia is in top slot here, with 7294 sales. The VW Golf is in second with 6236 and third place goes to the VW Tiguan, with 4513 sales.
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UK: Ford Fiesta

The Fiesta is perched atop the lofty list of the UK’s top-sellers, with 75,814 units sold this year so far, despite a mid-year lull when it sold the last of the previous model and was ramping up production of the new. Ford also gets second place with 57,526 sales of the Ford Focus, just ahead of the Volkswagen Golf, with 57,018 sales.

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