Volkswagen scores 1-2 in January 2015 European car sales chart
The Polo may sit in the second half of the UK’s top 10 best-selling car chart, but in Europe, it’s a very different story. Volkswagen’s perennial supermini was the second best-selling car in mainland Europe last month. Selling 23,512 units, the total number of Polos that found new homes was up 3.3 per cent on January 2014. And the car that topped the chart? The Polo’s bigger sibling, the Golf.
UK best-selling superminis the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall/Opel Corsa were fourth and fifth in the European chart with tallies of 21,833 and 21,255 respectively, meaning UK buyers are a patriotic bunch. Another small car rounded out Europe’s top five – the Renault Clio sold 22,238 examples in January. The Peugeot 208 was in eighth place and the Toyota Yaris tenth.
Overall, the picture was a buoyant one. New car sales for the month of January were up 6.4 per cent over the same period in 2014, say JATO Dynamics’ latest figures. Volkswagen, Ford and Renault were the best-selling brands, while the five biggest markets in Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) all recorded growth, as did a further 14 countries.
The top 10 best-selling cars in Europe (sales figure in thousands) are as follows:
1 Volkswagen Golf: 41,307
2 Volkswagen Polo: 23,512
3 Renault Clio: 22,238
4 Ford Fiesta: 21,833
5 Vauxhall/Opel Corsa: 21,225
6 Nissan Qashqai: 18,163
7 Skoda Octavia: 17,294
8 Peugeot 208: 16,047
9 Audi A3/S3/RS3: 15,438
10 Toyota Yaris: 15,298
