These are the best selling cars in the EU in 2021

More than nine million cars were newly registered on the European car market in 2021. And which models are particularly popular with buyers in 28 EU countries?

Despite massive slumps - both compared to the pandemic year 2020 and compared to the pre-pandemic year 2019 - of 27.9 and 50.0 percent, respectively, the VW Golf is just able to stay in first place. 205,408 models speak anything but a clear language. The Peugeot 208 and the Dacia Sandero followed with 196,869 and 196,792 vehicles. Both with significantly lower losses, with the Dacia even with a decent increase of 16.9 percent compared to 2020.

Tesla with mega plus - top performer Hyundai Tucson

As the best purely electric model, the Tesla Model 3 is making its way into the top 25 of the evaluation by market observer Jato. The Stromer sold 141,429 models and positioned itself in 17th place - the growth is remarkable: In 2020, the Model 3 increased by 64.0 percent, compared to 2019 by 48.8 percent. But that doesn't make the American electric car the champion of increases. As in the large markets of Italy, France, Spain and Great Britain, the Hyundai Tucson plays a major role - also in the overall statistics of the 28 EU countries: 149,170 models mean 13th place but also an increase of 64.3 percent (2020) or 6.4 percent (2019).

By the way: Only Volkswagen is the only German car manufacturer that can place five vehicles in the top 25. Mercedes and BMW only create one model each. You can see what they are in our photo show.

VW sells 1.2 million cars

The Wolfsburg-based brand also leads the ranking of the 25 most approved brands. More than 1.2 million VW cars were sold in Europe in 2021. Despite declines of 5.6 percent compared to 2020 or 128.1 percent compared to 2019, VW remains in first place. Followed by Peugeot and Toyota. The Japanese were even able to increase by 9.6 percent compared to the previous year. The biggest climber in the brand list is Tesla with an increase of 70.9 percent. Ford recorded the largest decline at -19.2% compared to 2020.

With exactly 9,700,192 new registrations, the car year 2021 was even weaker than Corona year 2020. Minus 2.4 percent are on the balance sheet. The volume markets present a mixed picture. France, Italy and Spain closed with positive signs, while Germany reported a minus of 10.1 percent.

French cars can assert themselves in Europe 2021 and are reaching for the throne, on which the VW Golf still sits, but slightly shakily. After all, the Wolfsburg can bring four other vehicles with the VW logo in the top 25 in addition to the Golf. This also guarantees them to confidently lead the brand ranking. Remarkable is the performance of the Hyundai Tucson, which has the best rate of increase in 2021 compared to the corona year 2020 - closely followed by Tesla Model 3.