The best-selling cars in Europe, the ranking of the last 50 years

2024 could be the year of the definitive consecration of the Dacia Sandero come regina d’Europaif it manages to maintain the title of best-selling car in the Old Continent, which it also confirmed in July.

The Romanian compact that convinces European motorists with its interesting price/features ratio and its engines, including LPG, with low costs per kilometre is preparing to dethrone the Tesla Model Y from the continental throne it held in 2023.

But what was the best-selling car in Europe in 2022 and which car dominated the market ten or twenty years ago? And has the Volkswagen Golf really been the undisputed master of the sales charts for the last fifty years? To find out, follow us on this dive into the past that traces the history of cars best seller in Europa dal 1973 al 2024.

1973: Fiat 127 stops Volkswagen Beetle

Let’s start right from the beginning, over fifty years ago, from that 1973 which marks the ascension to the European throne of the Fiat 127, the first car to interrupt the reign of the Volkswagen Beetle which had lasted for many years, even in an era in which sales statistics were still in their infancy.

The Italian small car managed to maintain the first position for six years before leaving it to its direct rival of the time. The Renault 5 conquered the first step of the European podium in 1979 and maintained it uninterruptedly until 1982.

Renault

1983: The Volkswagen Golf’s Domination Begins

In the 1983 one of the longest periods of domination at the top of the sales charts begins with the Volkswagen Golf which adds the latest registrations of the first series and the second generation just marketed.

Volkswagen

Volkswagen

The Golf remains first overall for a good fourteen yearssupported by sales of the third generation, ousted for just one year in 1997 from Fiat Punto to the top of Europe.

Stellantis

The Italian small car is only an interlude, however, since in 1998 The Volkswagen Golf IV returns to the top and remains there for five consecutive years.

Volkswagen

2003: Peugeot, Opel and fourteen years of Golf

In the 2003 begins a series of short reigns that see the Peugeot 206 dominate that year, the Volkswagen Golf first in 2004the Opel Astra which takes the top spot in the rankings in the two-year period 2005-2006 and the Peugeot 207 which wins the title of best seller in 2007.

Stellantis

Volkswagen

Stellantis

Stellantis

Il 2008 it is instead the year of the return in grand style of the Volkswagen Golf which for another fourteen years dominates thanks to the sixth, seventh and eighth generations of the German compact.

Volkswagen

Volkswagen

Volkswagen

To find a new protagonist we have to wait until 2022 when the Peugeot 208 is crowned queen of Europe.

Stellantis

2023: Tesla Model Y, then Dacia Sandero

The reign of the Frenchwoman was short-lived, however, because the 2023 it’s the year of the Tesla Model Ythe American electric SUV that for the first time includes a battery-powered car on the top step of European registrations.

Tesla

In the first seven months of 2024 Instead, Dacia Sandero is the best-selling car in Europe with 167,247 registrations until July. The Romanian compact has an advantage of about 28,000 cars over the second which is the inevitable Volkswagen Golf and of almost 37,000 units over the third which is the Volkswagen T-Roc. In short, there are all the premises for a victory of Dacia at the end of the year.

Dacia

The best-selling cars in Europe between 1973 and 2024

(Motor1.com data processing BestSellingCarsBlog)