The ranking of the best-selling cars in Europe in January 2023 compiled by Jato Dynamics shows a new change at the top. The most popular car ever was in fact the Dacia Sandero, with a total of 20,836 registrations and an 18% increase in sales, above all thanks to the excellent results obtained in our country and in France.
Throughout 2022 Sandero remained in second place in the European standings, after the Peugeot 208, which had always been at the top. Today on the second and third steps of the podium we find Volkswagen T-Roc and Toyota Yaris and another Toyota car arrives fourth in the standings: the Yaris Cross.
Fifth place for Renault Clio, followed by the Dacia Duster, the Peugeot 208, the Fiat 500, the Opel Corsa and the Volkswagen Tiguan.
The best-selling is Dacia Sandero
Dacia Sandero is one of the most successful cars of the Romanian House, since its launch. The appreciation from European customers continues, both thanks to its appreciable lines and aesthetics, and thanks to the price.
In fact, the Dacia brand has always been recognized for its low-cost list prices, within everyone’s reach. An aspect that represents a strong competitive advantage, especially in this moment of economic uncertainty that we are experiencing, which is so delicate. The purchasing power of European citizens has dropped significantly in recent years, and low cost cars can only make the difference on the market.
Jato Dynamics points out that, among the latest cars launched on the market, those that currently seem to be among the most popular in Europe are Renault Austral (we were also very impressed by the advertising), Toyota Corolla Cross, MG 4, Mazda CX-60, Nissan X-Trail, Peugeot 408 and the Alfa Romeo Tonale compact SUV.
The category preferred by European customers
SUVs stay on top, the favorite cars on the European market according to Jato, which analyzes a total of 27 countries. Registrations in January 2023 were up 11% (907,000 in all), but there is still a lot of work to be done to get back to pre-Covid levels.
Experts point out: “We are seeing positive signs, but not enough to bring the market back to the position it was in before the pandemic hit. The reality is, we may never see that level of sales again.”
It is above all SUVs that drive sales in Europe, up by 14% and with a share of 51.3%, for the first time they represent more than half of registrations of new cars in Europe. It is the Volkswagen Group that dominates the market for high-wheeled cars in Europe, followed by Stellantis, Hyundai-Kia, Toyota and the Renault Group. Even the Chinese brands are no less, and are imposing themselves on the European market, which fears the invasion of brands (registrations up by 109%).
The situation of electric cars in Europe
Electric cars are unfortunately not among the most popular on our continent, quite the contrary. In first place, however, we find the Tesla Model Ysecond step of the podium for Dacia Spring, followed by Volkswagen ID.3, ID.4 and Fiat 500.
Jato Dynamics underlines what ACEA anticipated in recent days: the demand for electric cars in Europe is a lot slowed down. Registrations increased by 14%, but there was a decidedly lower growth rate than the +29% which was instead recorded in the whole of 2022.
