Best Selling Cars Around The Globe: Toyota Corolla Now #3 In The World!

Matt Gasnier
by Matt Gasnier

After giving you my monthly World Roundup for November a few days ago, I will now rewind back one month (detailed data by model worldwide takes some time to compile…) to offer you an estimate of the Top 150 best-selling models in the world in October…

Had enough of the world and you just want to know which cars sell best in your own backyard? Easy. You can visit 171 countries and territories in my blog in the comfort of your own lounge. Just like that.

Back to our the world…

If in September the Ford Focus had started to benefit from the Japanese drama in China to pass the Toyota Corolla and historically grab the worldwide pole position, in October things are getting worse for Toyota… You can check out the worldwide Top 150 models ranking hereHandicapped by dramatically low sales in China, the Toyota Corolla now drops to passed by the Hyundai Elantra! The Focus stays on top with 88,096 sales, ahead of the Elantra at 74,386 units – its strongest worldwide month so far in 2012 and benefitting from a very successful launch of the last gen in China – and the Corolla at 73,833 sales… Two more models pass the 70,000-units mark this month: the Jetta and Passat, again on the back of mammoth Chinese sales.
VW Passat

The Ford F-Series (+1), VW Golf (-3) and Chevrolet Cruze (-2) follow, while the VW Polo is back in the Top 10 at #9 (+2) and the Ford Fiesta is stable at

Best-selling cars in the world – October 2012:

You can check out the worldwide Top 150 models ranking here

PosModelOctSep10m 2012Pos1Ford Focus88,0961835,32422Hyundai Elantra74,3865641,19853Toyota Corolla73,8332938,50714VW Jetta70,6333610,38095VW Passat70,0639623,47986Ford F-Series66,4887636,39467VW Golf65,8484648,46938Chevrolet Cruze63,1886634,36079VW Polo/Vento61,55711585,1891110Ford Fiesta53,52210609,95010

You can check out the worldwide Top 150 models ranking here

Outside the Top 10, the Toyota Hilux stays extremely robust in 12th position with just under 50,000 sales, the VW Gol/Voyage surfs on a very dynamic Brazilian market, up 12 spots on September to as does the Fiat Palio/Siena up 19 to The Chevrolet Silverado continues to progress at #17 and should finish the year upwards given the strong incentives GM will offer to get rid of stock of the current model before the 2014 generation launches early next year.

Kia K3

The Hyundai Tucson/ix35 is up again at #19 vs. #32 year-to-date, the Wuling Rongguang smashes its monthly record at 34,220 units and #27 (+17), the Kia Cerato/K3 starts to enjoy the effects of the K3 launch in South Korea and China at #28 (+21), the BMW 3 Series is up a further 4 ranks to #31 vs. #47 year-to-date, the VW Lavida is up 20 to #37 vs. #71 YTD and the Renault Duster, helped by fantastic performances in Russia and India, is up 22 spots to a best-ever

Toyota Aqua

Further down, the Toyota Prius c/Aqua breaks into the worldwide Top 50 for the first time at #43 and 27,720 sales, helped by a historical win in Japan. It now also outsells the Prius for the first time ( The Peugeot 208 is getting closer the Top 50 at while the Hyundai Santa Fe stays solid at #68 vs. #90 year-to-date and the Hyundai i20 takes off at #76 (+23) vs. YTD.

Matt Gasnier
Matt Gasnier

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  • Jimmyy Jimmyy on Dec 31, 2012

    The highly regarded Consumer Reports just ranked: Worst value for a small hatchback: Ford Focus SE Best value for a small sedan: Toyota Corolla LE

    • See 1 previous
    • Inside Looking Out Inside Looking Out on Jan 01, 2013

      I guess phrases "highly regarded Consumer Reports" and "Best value for a small sedan: Toyota Corolla LE" are sarcastic. Only CR can call piece of garbage "the best value".

  • AJ AJ on Jan 01, 2013

    Now that's some boring cars at the top.

    • Wsn Wsn on Jan 01, 2013

      Cars at the top are boring by definition. If you see 1M sales of Ferrari Enzos at the top, followed by 0.9M of 911s, those cars will be the very definition of boring cars.

  • MaintenanceCosts If you're buying your car to drive on some of the longer tracks, or if you're going drag racing, with street driving on the side, then maybe a very high-power engine option like this is worthwhile for you. If you're buying your car to drive on the street, and don't drive on a track, it's hard to see the benefit. The envelope of a Z06 goes way beyond anything you need on the street and the additional capability of a ZR1 is not useful at all.
  • MaintenanceCosts Thanks to a combination of aging product and its CEO's erratic and often embarrassing conduct, Tesla's brand has gone from "can do no wrong" to "the embarrassing thing you have to put up with to have an affordable EV." People are accordingly less forgiving.
  • Jalop1991 Great question. Why not make a track-only car. I'm sure some would say, they want the ability to drive the car to the track. But this brings up another thought: I keep hearing, right here even, about how "EVs are so much better, they're silent on the road, and they have INSTANT POWER and huge acceleration". Do we need EVs to behave that way any more than we need 1000 bhp road cars? Do we need to put go pedal behavior like that under the feet of new drivers? Of your mother? Of 35 year old Tiffany as she stares at her iPhone in traffic?
  • Kars they won't be bringing Junior to America - they won't be around long enough
  • Master Baiter Not if you are powering a container ship.
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