In full-year 2023, the Tesla Model Y, Dacia Sandero, Volkswagen T-Roc, and Renault Clio were the top-selling car models in Europe.
In the full calendar year 2023, the Tesla Model Y was the best-selling car model in Europe — the first time ever for a non-European car to claim the top spot in the European new car market. It was also the first time ever for a battery-electric car to be the favorite car model in Europe over a calendar year. For the second consecutive year, the Dacia Sandero was the second most popular car model in Europe and the Volkswagen T-Roc third. The Renault Clio gained fourth place while last year’s favorite car — the Peugeot 208 — slipped to fifth with lower sales.
Latest European Car Market Statistics 2023: By Country, Brands, Models, Electric Models and months: January, February, Q1, April, May, June (HY), July, August, September, Q3, October; 2022, 2021 & 2020.
Top 50 Best-Selling Car Models in Europe in 2023 (Full Year)
The top 50 best-selling car models in Europe in 2023 according to JATO Dynamics were:
Europe’s Top 10 Favorite Car Models in 2023
The Tesla Model Y was Europe’s favorite car model in 2023. It was also Europe’s favorite electric car model, favorite SUV, favorite battery-electric car, and favorite non-European car model. Sales increased by 84% compared to 2022. Only two other electric car models made it into the top 50 in Europe in 2023: the Tesla Model 3 at 32nd and the VW ID4 at 45th. The Tesla Model Y was also the best-selling car model worldwide in 2023.
The Tesla Model Y was the best-selling vehicle in 2023 in several European country markets including Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Finland. “The soaring popularity of the Model Y and price cuts across its range helped Tesla record its largest market share since arriving in Europe. Tesla has the right product in the right place at the right time,” Munoz commented.
For the second consecutive year, the Dacia Sandero was the second most popular car model in Europe, again followed by the Volkswagen T-Roc. Due to the strong performance of the Tesla Model Y, the VW T-Roc lost its title as Europe’s best-selling SUV.
Sales of the Renault Clio improved by 42% allowing it to reclaim fourth position after it dropped to tenth in 2022. The Peugeot 208, Europe’s favorite car model in 2022, slipped to fifth with sales down 6% — the worst performance of any top ten model. Its sister model, the Opel / Vauxhall Corsa improved one rank position.
The VW Golf slipped one sales position despite stronger sales. The Golf was Europe’s best-selling car model for 15 years until loosing the position in 2022 to the Peugeot 208.
The Toyota Yaris Cross is a new entrant on the top-ten list with sales up 29%. It improved from 15th a year ago while the standard Yaris dropped from 6th in 2022 to 14th in 2023.
The Fiat 500 slipped from 4th in 2022 to 9th in 2023 — the same relative rank position as in 2021. Sales were down 3% — only the second top-ten car model in Europe with lower sales volumes in 2023 compared to 2022.
The Skoda Octavia entered the top 10 (from 25th) with sales up by 43%.
From the models that were fully available in 2022, the strongest performers in 2023 were the Tesla Model Y, Renault Clio, MG ZS, Skoda Octavia, Toyota Corolla, Dacia Jogger, Nissan Juke, Toyota Yaris Cross, BMW i4, Seat Ibiza, and Audi Q4.
Among the latest launches (or the models that were not fully available throughout 2022), strong initial results were secured by the Renault Austral, MG 4, BMW iX1, Jeep Avenger, Nissan X-Trail, Opel/Vauxhall Astra, Peugeot 408, Alfa Romeo Tonale, and Mazda CX-60.
The models which saw the biggest market share drops were the Toyota Yaris, Peugeot 208, Fiat/Abarth 500, Nissan Micra (discontinued in 2023), Ford Ecosport, Opel/Vauxhall Crossland, Toyota RAV4, Renault Zoe, Peugeot 3008, and Renault Kadjar (discontinued in 2023).
Europe Car Sales Statistics
→ Latest European Car Sales Statistics
- Full-Year 2023: Car Sales by Country, Brands, Top 50 Models, Top 20 Electric Car Models
- Car Sales and Market Analysis 2023: January, February, Q1, April, May, June HY, July, August, September, October.
- 2023 (Q3): Car Sales by Country, Brands
- Half-Year 2023: Car Sales by Country, Brands, Models
- Full-Year 2022: Car Sales by Country, Brands, Models, Electric
