Photo: Indigo
People's preference for one particular model or brand varies from one country to another, and that's been the case for a long time. Their choice can be influenced by a lot of factors: national pride, geographical conditions, local culture, actual needs, wealth, and so on.
The fact the Ford F-Series pickup rules the United States of America is no secret. The truck has been the best-selling model for a while now, and even Chevrolet's anti-aluminum commercials couldn't manage to shake its grip on the North American market. That's right, the Blue Oval workhorse is top of the list in Canada as well.
But the supremacy of the Ford pickup ends with these two (admittedly large) countries, which is 23 countries short of the runaway world leader. That would be Toyota's Hilux pickup which is the most popular vehicle in 25 countries, most of them situated in Central and South America, Africa, and the Middle East.
A distant second is Volkswagen's bread and butter model, the ubiquitous Golf. The hatchback is the first choice in many European markets such as its domestic one, Germany, but also England, Austria or Croatia.
Despite the recent onslaught of international brands on the Chinese market, the best-seller there is still a local model that you've probably never heard of. Its called Wuling Hongguang and a quick Google search (yes, we hadn't heard of it either) reveals it's a (brace for it) minivan. That's probably fitting for the country with the largest population on earth.
Skoda is another brand with a strong presence in Europe, as are the French at Renault - particularly through their Dacia low-cost subsidiary. Looking at the map you get the feeling that Hyundai should be the clear winner, but that's only if success were measured by the area of the country where one of its models (the Solaris, in this case) is the most popular one. Sadly, the Russian market isn't as important as the country's area would suggest.
Finally, let's take some time and let this sink in: the best-sold car in Turkmenistan is the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. That is the only country that has a premium model as its most popular choice. Does this mean we'll see a mass exodus to Turkmenistan? Not very likely, but still.
Map compiled by Indigo. Click on the enlarge icon to be able to zoom in on the map.
But the supremacy of the Ford pickup ends with these two (admittedly large) countries, which is 23 countries short of the runaway world leader. That would be Toyota's Hilux pickup which is the most popular vehicle in 25 countries, most of them situated in Central and South America, Africa, and the Middle East.
A distant second is Volkswagen's bread and butter model, the ubiquitous Golf. The hatchback is the first choice in many European markets such as its domestic one, Germany, but also England, Austria or Croatia.
Despite the recent onslaught of international brands on the Chinese market, the best-seller there is still a local model that you've probably never heard of. Its called Wuling Hongguang and a quick Google search (yes, we hadn't heard of it either) reveals it's a (brace for it) minivan. That's probably fitting for the country with the largest population on earth.
Skoda is another brand with a strong presence in Europe, as are the French at Renault - particularly through their Dacia low-cost subsidiary. Looking at the map you get the feeling that Hyundai should be the clear winner, but that's only if success were measured by the area of the country where one of its models (the Solaris, in this case) is the most popular one. Sadly, the Russian market isn't as important as the country's area would suggest.
Finally, let's take some time and let this sink in: the best-sold car in Turkmenistan is the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. That is the only country that has a premium model as its most popular choice. Does this mean we'll see a mass exodus to Turkmenistan? Not very likely, but still.
Map compiled by Indigo. Click on the enlarge icon to be able to zoom in on the map.
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