The best selling cars in Europe in 2020 so far

4 years, 8 months ago - 1 April 2020, autocar
The best selling cars in Europe in 2020 so far
February saw the Volkswagen Golf outsell the Ford Fiesta in the UK for the first time in years. Here's how the rest of Europe is performing

Take a look at the UK's new car registrations - or indeed, stick your head out of the window - and you'll see the same familiar faces. On every street there's at least one Ford Fiesta or Focus, Volkswagen Golf or Nissan Qashqai.

It's not the same in other countries, though. The following list shows which cars the rest of Europe are besotted with, measured by market analysts JATO Dynamics:

Austria: Volkswagen Golf

With no mainstream car manufacturers, Austria's top-seller can't be from a domestic manufacturer. 635 buyers flocked to the Volkswagen Golf in February, while the next two are also VW group big-hitters; the the Skoda Octavia at 544 and Skoda Fabia at 542.

Belgium: Volkswagen Golf

The same can be said for Belgium, but clearly being wedged between France and Germany has its effects: the Volkswagen Golf was the most popular car in February with 1065 sales, while the Citroen C3 made third place with 980 sales. The Toyota Yaris found itself in second place with 1029 sales.

Croatia: Skoda Octavia

Croatia sees the continued dominance of the the Skoda Octavia this year, with the Fiat 500 and Volkswagen T-Cross completing the top three, with 342, 168 and 122 sales respectively.

Czech Republic: Skoda Octavia

No two guesses which carmaker rules supreme here - the Skoda Octavia has sold 1703 units and the second-best-seller was the Fabia, which has sold 1357, in fact, half of the country's top ten best-sellers are Skodas. The Scala takes third, with 795 sold in February.

Denmark: Toyota Yaris

The Toyota Yaris supermini took the Danish top spot in February, with 459 cars sold, while the next best-seller is the Peugeot 208 with 458 sales. The Nissan Qashqai saw 453 sales throughout the month.

Estonia: Toyota RAV4

Estonia has a proclivity for larger cars, it would seem, with the Toyota RAV4 holding pole position in February with 141 sales. The Renault Clio steps up to second place with 130 sales, while the Toyota Corolla earns third place with 90 sales.

Finland: Toyota Corolla

A second victory for Toyota in Finland, with the Corolla seeing 610 cars sold in February. Second place was taken by the Skoda Octavia, a former top-seller, with 319 cars finding homes. The Toyota Yaris remains in third place with 257 sales.

France: Peugeot 208

Little surprise here; France's top three car in February were all French models. The all-new Peugeot 208 sold an impressive 10273 cars, giving it a significant lead over the Renault Clio in second place. Renault's supermini saw 8662 sales, while the Citroen C3 saw 5877 sales.

Germany: Volkswagen Golf

Volkswagen maintains its top spot in Germany with the Golf holding a significant lead over the second place Ford Focus. 10318 Golf cars were sold throughout the month, while Ford saw 5412 sales. Another Volkswagen took the third place spot with 5284 sales.

Greece: Toyota Yaris

The Toyota Yaris once again takes the top spot in Greece, with 473 cars sold in February, compared to the second-place Peugeot 208's 310 units sold. Third place goes to the Citroen C3, which found its way into 286 Greek homes across the month.

Hungary: Dacia Lodgy

The Hyundai Tucson only just earned its first place position in Ireland in February, with 548 sales. Interestingly the Toyota Corolla and Volkswagen Tiguan shared joint second place with 508 sales each.

Italy: Fiat Panda

Nationalism wins, once again, with Fiat taking two podium spots – the Fiat Panda was the best-selling car so far in February, with 14,466 cars finding homes. The Lancia Ypsilon, once badged as a Chrysler and sold in the UK but now only sold in its home country, took second place with 5950 sales. The Renault Clio managed to see 4220 sales to earn third place overall.

Latvia: Peugeot 308

One of the only European countries that hasn't seen any new car break three digits this month, Latvia's top seller was the Peugeot 308 family hatchback. 83 found homes in February, while the second place Toyota RAV4 managed 63. Toyota earned the bronze medal position too, with the Corolla seeing 58 sales.

Lithuania: Dacia Sandero

Dacia's second country win came in Lithuania, with the Sandero seeing 162 sales throughout February. The Toyota RAV4 SUV earned second place with 144 sales, while the Jeep Renegade managed third place with 18 cars finding homes.

Luxembourg: Volkswagen Golf

Another country win for the Volkswagen Group, and for the VW Golf. It took the top spot in February with 126 sales, and while another VW model earns second place, it must share the podium. The Tiguan is Luxembourg's favourite SUV this month, with 109 cars finding homes. The Mercedes-Benz A-Class also managed 109.

Netherlands: Kia Niro

Electrification incentives saw the Kia Niro become the best-selling car in the Netherlands in February, with 1050 cars sold. That was enough to keep the Renault Clio in second place, with 818 cars, while the Ford Focus earned third place with 765 models sold across the month.

Norway: Audi e-Tron

Surprise! Audi's first country win this month is also the most expensive car to make the top three in any European country, thanks to some major incentives for Norwegian customers to make the switch to electric. It saw 1171 sales throughout the month, pushing the Volkswagen Golf into second place with 760. The Nissan Leaf, another electric car, albeit a much more affordable one, earned third place with 484 cars sold.

Poland: Toyota Corolla

The Toyota Corolla earned another top spot in Poland this month, with 1664 sales pushing the Skoda Octavia into second place. Skoda's saloon saw 1583 sales in February, while the Fabia hatchback managed 1285 to claim third position.

Portugal: Renault Clio

Small French cars regularly dominate the podium in Portugal, and February proved no different. The Renault Clio earned the top spot with 1434 cars sold, while the Peugeot 208 managed 813 sales to take the silver medal. The Citroen C3 managed the runner-up position with 694 cars finding homes.

Romania: Dacia Logan

Unsurprisingly, Dacia continues to take its home market by storm, claiming all three places in February's sales charts. The Logan earned pole position with 929 cars sold, while the Duster SUV managed 573 sales to take second place. Bringing up the rear was the Sandero, which saw 446 cars sold throughout the month.

Slovakia: Skoda Fabia

The Skoda Fabia is a regular Slovakian favourite, and once again earned the top spot in February. It saw 451 sales across the month, pushing its bigger brother, the Octavia, into second place with 365. It wasn't a clean sweep for Skoda, however, with the Hyundai i30 earning third place thanks to 267 sales.

Slovenia: Skoda Octavia

The Skoda Octavia's continued dominance in Slovenia shows the country still likes its saloon cars, even if a supermini and compact crossover make up the remainder of the top three. Skoda saw 264 sales, while the Renault Clio managed 245. The Volkswagen T-Cross earned third place with 212 cars sold.

Spain: Seat Leon

All change for Spain this month, as the Nissan Qashqai unseated the Seat Leon as the best-selling car. 2550 Qashqais found homes, compared to 2464 Leons. The Vauxhall Corsa, sold in Spain under the Opel banner, took third place with 2109 sales.

Sweden: Volvo S60/V60

There was uproar a few years back when the Volkswagen Golf took the lead in Sweden's car market, but the home-grown brand soon took back the top spot, and has remained there thanks to the combined might of the S60 saloon and V60 estate. 1711 were sold in February, while the XC40 took second place with 1112. The Kia Niro rounded off the top three, with 938 sales.

Switzerland: Skoda Octavia

With no native carmakers of any large volume, the Swiss bought the Skoda Octavia, Volkswagen Tiguan and Mercedes-Benz A-Class more than any other cars in February. 506 bought an Octavia, while 401 and 386 bought Tiguans and A-Classes.

UK: Ford Fiesta

While the Fiesta has perched atop the lofty list of the UK's top-sellers for what feels like a decade, February 2020 saw the Volkswagen Golf find more homes. 3457 Golf customers pushed the Fiesta into second place with 3123, while the Ford Focus takes third place with 2764. On year-to-date sales, however, the Fiesta still holds the top spot. You can find the rest of the best-seller list here.

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