2018 (Full Year) International: Global Top Car Brands

Toyota, Volkswagen and Ford were the best-selling passenger vehicle brands worldwide in 2018.

Toyota TS050 Hybrid

In 2018, Toyota was again the world’s leading car brand with sales increasing to just over 8 million vehicles worldwide. Volkswagen was second with sales increasing to over 6.7 million cars while Ford sales contracted by 11% to just over 5.3 million vehicles sold worldwide in 2018. The Ford F-Series and Toyota Corolla were the world’s top-selling car models in 2018.

Best-Selling Car Brands Worldwide in 2018

According to JATO, the following were the 25 top-selling car brands worldwide in 2018:

2018 Top Selling car Brands and Models Global 2018
© JATO

Global Top-Selling Car Brands in 2018

Toyota remained the global leading car brand in 2018 with worldwide sales increasing by 3% to 8,091,277 vehicles sold. The Toyota Corolla was also the world’s top-selling passenger car in 2018 (although the Ford F-Series pickup sold in higher numbers).

In 2018, Volkswagen increased sales by a percentage points to 6,746,204 cars sold worldwide. Volkswagen was helped by a resurgent South American market that helped to offset slower sales in China.

In 2018, Ford was the worst performing top car brand globally with sales down by 11% to 5,329,290 vehicles. However, its nearest competitors failed to fully catch up with Honda sales flat at 4,966,037 cars and Nissan sales 2% down to 4,750,863 cars sold worldwide in 2018.

Hyundai increased global sales in 2018 by 3% to just above the 4 million mark. Chevrolet sales were down 1% to 3,881,747 vehicles.

Of the global top-ten best-selling car brands in 2018, Suzuki was the most improved with sales up by 5% to 3,046,585 cars. Kia sales worldwide also increased by a strong 4% in 2018 to 2,638,782 cars.

Mercedes-Benz rounded out the top ten list of worldwide best-selling car brands with sales up 1% to 2,551,806 cars. It was the eighth consecutive year of sales increases for Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes-Benz remained the world’s leading luxury car brand in 2018.

The worst performing of the top car brands globally in 2018 were Baojun (-13%), Buick (-12%) and Ford (-11%). Two predominantly European brands Opel / Vauxhall and Fiat also struggled with sales down by 8%.

The most-improved top 25 car brand globally in 2018 was Mitsubishi with sales up by nearly a quarter. Jeep and Geely also increased global sales in 2018 by 11% while Suzuki and Skoda sales worldwide in 2018 improved by 5%.

The Ford F-Series, Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic were the global top-selling car models in 2018.

Worldwide Car Sales per Brand in 2018