In this list we have tried to include the best-sellers of the automobile in the more than 120 years of history that this wonderful device has behind it since Panhard and Levassor began to sell automobiles, back in 1889.
1.-Toyota Corolla (more than 41 million units).
In the 1960s, the Japanese market demanded low-cost and fuel-efficient vehicles, thus the Toyota Corolla –a C-segment compact– was born in 1966. It also proved to be an ideal product for the North American market and, later, for the European one. Since then, it has known 12 generations, although in some markets, such as Spanish or Japanese, the tenth generation was renamed Toyota Auris. In 1997, this Toyota became the best-selling car in history, surpassing the sales of the Volkswagen Beetle ..
2.-Ford F-Series. F-150 (More than 35 million units)
For 24 years, this pickup, born in 1948 and which has already known 12 generations, was the best-selling vehicle in the United States and, therefore, in the world – according to information from 2003, it was sold in the US an F-Series every 30 seconds. In the last 20 years, the Ford F-Series has had to compete against a good number of models from General Motors , Chrysler , and even the Japanese from Honda and, above all, Toyota, but it remains the best-selling truck , thanks to such a wide range ranging from the “moderate” F-150 to the mammoth F-750 Super Duty , true trucks.
3.- Volkswagen Golf (more than 30.5 million until 2014)
Born in 1974 as a successor to the Beetle, the quintessential German compact of the last 40 years has just released its seventh generation. The name, according to Volkswagen, has nothing to do with the sport, but with a type of wind – a custom that was later maintained with other models such as the Jetta, the Bora or the Scirocco. As a curiosity, the first generation, which was designed by Giorgieto Giuggiaro , was called Rabbit in the US and Canada and Caribbean in Mexico.
4.- Volkswagen Type 1 (21,529,464 units)
The Nazi authorities dreamed of motorizing the German people and Ferdinand Porsche knew how to make those wishes come true. In 1938, he began manufacturing the Type 1 – that was his official name – which in time became known as the “Beetle” (beetle) and a long list of similar nicknames in every language. It remained in production until 2003, although during the Second World War it suffered a hiatus, for which it holds the honor of being the model that has been in production for the longest years and having the most durable design in automotive history.
In 1998, Volkswagen began selling the New Beetle: a new model with clear aesthetic references to the Beetle, but which meets modern standards and is manufactured exclusively at the Puebla (Mexico) plant, where the Type was produced. 1 or Vocho, as it was known in Mexico, until 2003.
It is probably the most recognized of the models that appear on this list, since its image, as an icon of the 20th century, transcends the purely automotive. Taking into account the units sold of the last generation of the Beetle, its total sales would be 23.5 million units.
5.- Honda Civic (more than 20 million units)
Born in 1973 in Japan as a two-door compact and later a three-door hatchback , it has known eight generations to date. It has been a model that has worked in the three main markets: Japan, the United States and Europe, although in recent generations, the Civic for the European market has little to do with the one that is marketed in Japan or the United States, where it regularly , this Honda appears in the list of the ten best-selling cars every month.
6.- Ford Escort (20 million units sold)
The Escort was born in 1967 as a response from Ford from the United Kingdom, to the avalanche of models from European manufacturers, such as Fiat, Renault or Volkswagen, which opted for cars that consumed little and were cheap to maintain. The Escort reaped its sales success mainly among European customers, throughout the 33 years that it remained in production with six different generations. Of the models that appear on this list, it is the only one that has been manufactured in Spain, specifically at the Almussafes (Valencia) plant, where its replacement, the Focus, was also manufactured.
It is to be expected that the Escort will soon give up its place in this top ten to models like the Honda Accord, which is close to its sales figures and is still in production.
7.- Honda Accord (over 17.5 million units)
This car in the D segment took advantage of the success of the Civic and the increase in fuel prices in the early 1970s, especially in the United States, which opened the doors of that market, due to its low consumption compared to the yankee models. The success of the Honda Accord in the North American market was such that in 1981 it became the first Japanese model to be manufactured in the United States. Throughout its eight generations –the last one presented this year–, this Honda It has seen the most disparate bodies and mechanics and, as with the Civic, the versions that are marketed in Europe and those in Japan and the US have little in common.
8.- Volkswagen Passat (More than 15.5 million units)
Taking advantage of the fact that it had recently acquired Audi, Volkswagen used a good part of the technology of the Audi 80/Fox to develop a new model that, launched in 1972, would serve as a commercial alternative to the already outdated Type 1 –Beetle–. The Passat was raised as a D-segment vehicle and has evolved over the six generations that have been known. It has received various names depending on the market – Santana, Quantum, Carat, Dasher, Magotan, Corsar, etc. – and since 2011 there has been a specific model, called the Passat NMS , which is manufactured in the United States and is marketed in North America, the Middle East, Korea and China. Currently, the eighth generation of the model is on the market.
9.- Ford Model T (15,007,033 units)
Henry Ford conceived the idea of ​​making a car accessible to the majority of Americans, he installed the system of mass production that allowed him to lower costs and the Model T was born , which started at $1,000 and ended up costing just over $300. VW Beetle is more than a cultural icon, the Ford T, is one of the milestones in the industrial history of humanity.
It was in production between 1908 and 1927 and saw the most varied versions: one, two, three, four-door, pick-up, sedan, coupe, roadster; and even the bare chassis was sold to be customized by any coachbuilder.
The weight that the model had in the automobile panorama of the time is given by the fact that, in 1921, 52% of world registrations corresponded to the Ford T. Logically, it was the first model to reach one million units, at five, 10 and 15 million units and it was not until the second half of the 20th century that it lost the title of best-selling car in history at the hands of VW . beetle . As a curiosity, between 1919 and 1923 a Ford factory operated in Cadiz where a few hundred units of the Ford T were assembled .
10.- Chevrolet Impala (More than 14 million units)
It may be striking that what for years was the main automotive group on the planet by manufacturing volume does not have more models among the ten best sellers. This is due to the great diversification of General Motors brands .
The Impala was born in 1958 as a two-door coupe with a V8 engine that made it compete with the sports models of the time. Two years later the four-door version arrived and the updates have been happening over time until completing the 10 generations of the model. The last one was presented at the New York Salon in April 2012 and began to be sold in the United States in 2014.
