In your own country, you’re probably used to seeing the same types of car out and about on the streets and parked in driveways, but around the world, the picture is very different!
With some cars and brands only available in certain markets and driving tastes and conditions differing from one country to another, each nation has its own preferred vehicle.
We’ve crunched the numbers to see what’s the favourite car in over 100 countries right around the world.
The Most Popular Cars in the World
Total Global Car Sales
By total sales, the most popular vehicle in the world is the Toyota Corolla, which has been one of the best selling cars in the world ever since 1974, having launched back in 1966.
The Corolla is sold right around the world and it’s estimated that around 1.48 million units were sold in 2019.
- Toyota Corolla – 1,483,120 sales
- Ford F-Series – 1,070,406 sales
- Toyota RAV4 – 966,971
- Honda CR-V – 824,897
- Honda Civic – 817,902
The Cars Favoured overall in Most Countries
However, while the Corolla’s sales may be the highest globally, here are the models which came top in the highest number of countries.
Toyota HiLux – 17 countries
The Toyota HiLux pickup truck was the most popular model in 17 countries around the world, more than any other vehicle, including in Australia, Thailand, South Africa, and many South American markets. The HiLux is known for its durability and reliability, which is no doubt a big reason for its enduring popularity around the world.
Toyota Land Cruiser – 10 countries
Favoured in ten countries was another Toyota, the Land Cruiser, which was the most popular car in many countries, particularly in the Middle East, including Lebanon, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and here in the UAE. The four-wheel-drive is Toyota’s longest-running line and has sold over ten million units around the world.
Škoda Octavia – 7 countries
Škoda vehicles are particularly popular in central European nations such as Switzerland, Austria, Croatia and the Czech Republic, where the manufacturer is based. Their most common vehicle is the Škoda Octavia which was preferred in seven countries and has sold around five million units over the last two 25 years or so.
Most Common Brands
Toyota was by far the most common brand around the world, with the most popular car in 48 countries being a Toyota, predominantly the HiLux, Land Cruiser and Corolla.
Škoda came in second due to its popularity in European markets, while Dacia and their parent company Renault took third, with many models such as the Sandero and Duster being sold under both brands.
Source
All data was sourced from BestSellingCarsBlog’s Sales Data, taking the most popular car for the most recent full year available. We only included countries for which sales data was available from 2015 onwards.