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The Most Popular Car Brands by Country

World's top selling car manufacturers

A list of the best selling car brands in the world. Use our worldwide map to find the best selling car manufacturers by country. 

The most popular car brands in the world

There are more cars being manufactured today than any other time in history.

But, who is the world’s most popular automaker?

We’ve analysed the sales figures for the last year to reveal the top selling car manufacturer in every country, and the world as a whole. Year on year the competition is revving up to take the top spot, but there is one clear winner.

Toyota storms ahead of any other car manufacturer in the world and takes the top spot dominating the sales markets across 40 countries, with Dacia and Volkswagen coming in behind them.

The top 5 selling car manufacturers in the world are:

Brand Countries Percentage
Toyota 40 39%
Dacia 7 6%
Volkswagen 5 5%
Fiat 5 5%
Kia 4 4%

Based on top selling car brands from 102 countries

Which car manufacturer is king of the roads in your country? Take a look at our map below to find out more.

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The Most Popular Car Brands in Asia

It shouldn't be a surprise to see that Asia is dominated by Asian brands. Chevrolet is the only American showing with just Kazakhstan under its belt. European brands perform just as weakly with none achieving top sales in more than one country. Toyota, of course, takes first place, outselling the competition in a round dozen countries.

Brand Top seller in this many countries Overall percentage of region
Chevrolet 1 3.33%
Fiat 1 3.33%
Honda 3 10%
Hyundai 2 6.66%
Isuzu 1 3.33%
Kia 2 6.66%
Lada 1 3.33%
Maruti Suzuki 1 3.33%
Mercedes 1 3.33%
Nissan 2 6.66%
Perodua 1 3.33%
Saipa 1 3.33%
Suzuki 1 3.33%
Toyota 12 40%

The Most Popular Car Brands in Europe

The success of the Asian companies continues into Europe with Toyota, again, bagging the most countries of any brand. Volkswagen does best out of Europe's home-grown makers while the once-mighty Ford is outperformed by America's other representative, Tesla.

Brand Top seller in this many countries Overall percentage of region
Fiat 2 6.06%
Ford 1 3.03%
Hyundai 1 3.03%
Kia 1 3.03%
Lada 2 6.06%
Nissan 1 3.03%
Peugeot 1 3.03%
Renault 1 3.03%
Skoda 4 12.12%
Suzuki 1 3.03%
Tesla 2 6.06%
Toyota 10 30.30%
Volkswagen 5 15.15%
Volvo 1 3.03%

The Most Popular Car Brands in North America

In terms of countries dominated, the USA, once the trailblazer in automotive mass production, and the country with the world's most celebrated car culture, is now left supreme on just the mainland portion of its home continent. European manufacturers are nowhere to be seen in our table as Asia mops up what's left of North America.

Brand Top seller in this many countries Overall percentage of region
Ford 2 50%
Kia 1 25%
Toyota 1 25%

The Most Popular Car Brands in South America

Toyota takes another continent in terms of countries where it outsells any other brand. Chevrolet provides the US contingent while Ford fails to make a chart appearance on its continental neighbour. Fiat is the only European name on the list, but it scores two countries, equalling Chevrolet.

Brand Top seller in this many countries Overall percentage of region
Chevrolet 2 25%
Fiat 2 25%
Suzuki 1 12.50%
Toyota 3 37.50%

The Most Popular Car Brands in Oceania

The region encompassing the world's southernmost markets provides Toyota, and Asia, with another win. That makes some geographical sense as distances between Japan and the countries of Oceania are, on average, substantially smaller than those to be covered when importing products from the USA or Europe.

Brand Top seller in this many countries Overall percentage of region
Mitsubishi 1 25%
Toyota 3 75%

The Most Popular Car Brands in Africa

Toyota's second best showing in terms of number of countries taken, Africa embraces Asian vehicles to the near exclusion of US and European brands.

Brand Top seller in this many countries Overall percentage of region
Chevrolet 1 6.25%
Dacia 2 12.50%
Hyundai 1 6.25%
Nissan 1 6.25%
Toyota 11 68.75%

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The role of DVLA

Car registrations and number plates, including personalised number plates, in the UK, are the responsibility of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, usually known as the DVLA. It issues new registrations twice a year and also maintains the central database that records details of all vehicles licensed to drive on UK roads, along with their keeper and registration information.

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DVLA administers all UK registration transfers and issues updated registration documents when the registration number of a car is changed, or when a registration is removed from a vehicle and placed on a retention document in accordance with the DVLA Retention Scheme.

DVLA is a registered trade mark of the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency. Regtransfers is not affiliated with the DVLA or DVLA Personalised Registrations. Regtransfers is a recognised reseller of unissued Government stock.

Number plate regulations

When a car is on the road, it is an offence to display number plates bearing any number other than the vehicle's officially recorded registration number. If you purchase a private registration, learn how to transfer private plates before displaying the new number.

All registration number plates displayed on UK vehicles must comply with the official number plate regulations. DVLA oversees enforcement of number plates display regulations and maintains a register of approved manufacturers and retailers of vehicle number plates.

Regtransfers is not part of, and is not formally affiliated with DVLA.

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