Europe's most popular cars - ranked by country

In 2024, the most popular car on the old continent was the Dacia Sandero (268,101 units, +14%), followed by the Renault Clio (216,317 units, +7%) and the Volkswagen Golf (215,715 units, +17%). A total of 12.91 million new cars were registered in Europe (+0.9%), mainly due to the demand for hybrid cars. Among the main markets, the only one to show good growth was Spain (+7.1%), followed by the UK (+2.6%), while France fell by 3.2%, Germany by 1% and Italy by 0.5%.

A closer look at these markets reveals which models were the favourites, and in more than one case it is the 'domestic' models that are the most popular.

Best-selling cars in major EU markets

In 2024, the Fiat Panda remained the best-selling car in Italy, with 99,871 units registered. In second place was the Dacia Sandero, with 60,380 units sold, followed by the Jeep Avenger with recorded 41,184 registrations.

In Germany, the entire podium was occupied by Volkswagen models: in first place was the Golf (100,183 units), followed by the T-Roc (75,398 units) and the Tiguan (67,057 units).

In the same year, the French ranking was again dominated by domestic cars, with the Renault Clio leading the way (91,435 units), followed by the Peugeot 208 (88,918 units); the Sandero was also on the podium, but in third place with 75,978 units.

In Spain, however, the most popular model was the Dacia Sandero (32,994 units), followed by the Toyota Corolla (22,124 units), and only in third place was a Spanish car, the Seat Ibiza (22,021 units).

In the UK, however, the favourite was the Ford Puma (48,340 units), followed by the Kia Sportage (47,163 units) and the Nissan Qashqai (42,418 units).

In Turkey, the best-selling models were the Fiat Egea/Tipo (58,983 units), followed by the Renault Clio (50,891) and the Renault Megane (40,077).

The Norwegian case

Speaking of best-selling cars, it is interesting to note that in Norway, where 128,691 new cars were registered (+1.4 per cent more than in 2023), 114,400 were electric cars, i.e. 89 per cent (a figure that continues to rise from 82.4 per cent in 2023).

Specifically, the best-selling models were:

1. Tesla Model Y: 16,858 units (13.1 %)
2. Tesla Model 3: 7,264 units (5.6 %)
3. Volvo EX30: 7,229 units (5.6 %)
4. Volkswagen ID.4: 7,222 units (5.6 %)
5. Toyota bZ4X: 6,007 units (4.7 %)
6. Skoda Enyaq: 4,610 units (3.6 %)
7. Nissan Ariya: 3,772 units (2.9 %)
8. Volkswagen ID.3: 3,634 units (2.8 %)
9. Toyota Yaris: 3,523 units (2.7 %)
10. Audi Q4 e-tron: 3,449 units (2.7 %)

Compared to the rest of Europe, Norway continues to show encouraging figures in the transition to electric mobility. In January 2025, almost all (95.8%) of newly registered cars were electric, a percentage that brings the country closer to its goal of selling only zero-emission vehicles by that year.