Top 10 Best selling Cars of all time

We have talked a lot about fastest moving cars and bikes and also the tallest of the people, and upon the result of poll that was conducted we’ve decided we’d bring in more statistics related posts and also interesting facts. Coming down to statistics, we decided to write something on the top 10 best selling cars of all time in the world. Cars? we’ve seen many, but do you know some cars began production even before your father and mother were a child, and the kind of change and innovation it has gone through is just admirable. So lets have a peek into the history and find out which were those cars which could sell through all these years? and what made it to get on the list of t0p 10 best selling cars of all time.

10. Chevrolet Impala/Caprice (From 1958- Till today)

Approximate Sales: 13,000,000

Chevrolet is a division of General Motors which built the Impala model way back in 1958 and it still stands among the top 10 best selling cars till date. First Impala dominated the sales in United States before it made its way to the rest of the world. Specifically in 1965 the Chevrolet Impala/Caprice reached its sales peak. Impala is name of an antelope that is found in the southern Africa. Design of Impala has been revived many times, latest being in 2004-2009. Different Generations of Impala were Impala Hardtop Coupe, Impala Convertible, Impala Hardtop Sedan, Impala SS Convertible, Impala Custom Coupe, Impala SS Sport Coupe, and most recently Impala LT. So that was our top 10th most sold car of all time.

9. Lada Riva (From 1980- Till today)

Approximate Sales: 13,000,000

At top 9th position of best selling cars of all time we have a car from the Russian car manufacturer called AvtoVAZ and the car is named Lada Riva. The production of Lada Riva began back in 1980, but it basically is a remodeled version of its father Fiat 24 which was brought to market in 1970s. In terms of technology its very similar to its parent car differing only in style and placement factors. The important difference was introduced in the year 1990 when the catalytic converters and the fuel injection were specified to keep in parallel with the the legislation of emission. Lada Riva rose as one of the best low-budget car in the United Kingdom, as the interiors and design wasn’t meant for the luxurious class, it came to be affordable by the middle mass. Lada Riva is still in production and dominates at the 9th position in the list.

8. Volkswagen Passat (From 1973- Till today)

Approximate Sales: 15,000,000

In 1993, Volkswagen (meaning people’s car in german) introduced the Passat family of cars which was built by Volkswagen Passenger Cars in 1973. There have been numerous names of Volkswagen Passat, ranging from Corsar, Carat, Quantum, Magotan, Santana and Dasher. Recently Passat launched their latest variant Passat CC which is a 4 door coupe style. Passat spread its sales across the globe with country specific variant car with the features that were suitable for that particular country. Volkswagen also produced both petrol and diesel version of Passat which used various engines such as AEK, AFT/ AKS, ABV etc for the cars.

7. Nissan Sunny/Sentra/Pulsar (From 1966- Till today)

Approximate Sales: 16,000,000

Nissan Motors produces the Nissan Sentra, which is nothing but the Japanese Nissan Sunny rebranded; ready for export. Japanese don’t know the word “Sentra”.
The Nissan Sentra costs anywhere between $21000 to $15000 in the United States, and the model served in the US as you already know is Sentra. Most of the sentras that were produced by Nissan were in the range of subcompact cars, and the model has definitely grown over years, but now the same is being replaced with the Nissan Versa even though it has medium interior space. Nissan Sentra was launched in the year 1982 and so was other cars with the similar names, like Nissan Sunny and such and thus began its distribution even in the countries like Americas, Brazil, and in Mexico, Sunny or Sentra came to be known as Tsuru.

Other names that Nissan Motors brought out was Nissan Tsuru, Nissan Tsuru II and Nissan Sunny, Nissan Lucino (200SX) ,2010 Nissan Sentra (US), Nissan Sentra 180. And even to date, Nissan Sentra sells and presently stands at the top 7th position among the top 10 best selling cars of all time.

6. Honda Civic (From 1972- Till today)

Approximate Sales: 16,500,000

Honda is the manufacturer of these compact cars named Civic. Apart from the Toyota Corolla its the Civic which is in the production since a long time in North America from a Japanese Manufacturer.  Juggling between Accord and Fit, after undergoing many changes, Civic has raised to surface.
It was introduced in July 1972 as a two-door coupe, followed by a three-door hatchback that September. Even though the car had very good interior space and good dimension, it could still house the 1169 cc engine with the transverse engine mounting and front-wheel drive like the British Mini. In early days, Civic used to come coupled with heater, cushioned platic trim, painted steel rims, two-speed wipers and many more. In later years they also added air conditioning, power windows and leather upholstery, power locks and also satellite navigation. And car itself had 6 speed transmission.
Honda Domani, Honda Acura EL are the rebadged version of Honda Civic for the international market. The CR-X sport compact, CR-X del Sol Targa Convertible were only possible because of the platform provided by the Honda Civic. Its been straight 11 years selling to 2008 of Civic. Because of lot of options for customization and its sporty look, Civic has always been the favorites among the top cars used for racing, especially in drag racing in United States. Many famous racers started off with this car.

5. Ford Model T (From 1908-1927)

Approximate Sales: 16,536,075

Ford Model T is well known by the names T-Model Ford, Tin Lizzie, Flivver or simply T has been in production sine 1908 till 1927 by Henry Ford’s Company. The year 1908 will remain a major year in the history as it was the time when the motor vehicle or specifically cars became so popular and it came into hands of public. It put the America on Wheels (literally ). This was only possible because of Henry Ford’s groundbreaking innovation of Assembly line. And do keep in mind the wages that were given to the employees which was based on the cost of the produced car. Ford Model T was produced first on 27th Sept 1908 in Michigan at Piquette Plant. This was the world’s first mass produced vehicle!. Many cars from Ford Company followed after the Ford Model T.
Henry Ford’s Company also produced some 19 models from A through T and many of those were just prototypes. You believe it or not the Ford T car was like the Google of that times, It was revolutionary! Just imagine someone making a Economy Jet pack which you can wear and fly to work @ $10 / day or something like that? Henry Ford brought about a civil revolution in the Car Industry. He promised the people around the world that he’d give them a car that can be afforded by anyone and everyone. And boy did that come true! All in all, Ford T’s keep breaking the present records.

4. Ford Escort/Orion (From 1968-2003)

Approximate Sales: 20,000,000

When Ford decided to make cars for the European countries, they made Ford Orion. Its a saloon car especially built for Europe, and was first produced in the year 1983 and went on in production till the year 1993. Within the first ten years of its production, a hopping 530000+ Orions were sold. Ford Orion happens to be very similar to the Escort model , with the only difference being the hatchback. Orion happens to have a different kind of trunk.
During the 80’s most of the old line-up of Ford like Saloon were being replaced with the new Hatchbacks. The Ford Orion was specifically built in order to fill the gap for the 4 door saloon. This situation arose because of the fall of the famous car Cortina.
Ford Orion included many very required features such as front sport seats, sunroof, locking, rear head restraints, tachometer, electric windows and not to mention the information binnacle which keeps the driver updated regarding the maintainance issues. These features are very common these days, but in those days these were the boon and this was what set apart the Orion from the rest of the competitors. To mention the honorary competitors for the Ford Orion are Mercedes Benz 190, Vauxhall Belmont, BMW E30, Rover, Volkswagen Jetta and Volvo 360. As the years passed by, Ford reduced the difference gap between the Ford Escort and Ford Orion by bringing the specifications of Orion closer to that of the Ford Escort. This we must say, was a good choice from Ford Company, As it made Orion the 3rd Best Selling car in the world.

3. Volkswagen Beetle (From 1937-2003)

Approximate Sales: 21,529,464

In 1938, German car maker company Volkswagen (meaning People’s Car) decided to make a People’s Car and they came out with what we say “so cute” today: the Volkswagen Beetle. This was also named Volkswagen Type 1. Volkswagen was in production from 1937 till 2003, an age of your grand ma you say eh?. Till today more than twenty one million Beetles have been brought to market.
During the 50’s Beetle happened to be the most powerful and the most comfortable when compared to any other cars (especially small cars) of Europe. Volkswagen Beetle was designed to be having a sustain high speed on Autobahn, and thus the same led for it to become one of the most produced and the longest running automobile. Beetle went on to replace the front wheel drive models and climb up the ladder to become the top selling car in the USA. Main reason for its widespread success can be given as the extremely superb build quality and of course the matching eye-candy advertises. All of the cars from USA like Chevrolet Vega, Pinto from Ford, and Chevrolet Corvair have been trying to keep up to the standards set by Volkswagen Beetle.
Before 1967, Beetle was called The Kafer which in German stands for beetle. But only after that year did the Company itself started calling the car by that name. And the company marketed the car with the same name in USA since that year. It was recently around in 1998 when the Volkswagen Company revised the Beetle model and introduced the New Beetle which is based upon the technology used in the Volkswagen Golf Mk4. Ever since then, Beetle has been the cutest car on the road.
2. Volkswagen Golf (From 1974- Till today)
Approximate Sales: 25,100,000

The Volkswagen Golf is a compact car manufactured by Volkswagen since 1974 and marketed worldwide across six generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates - as the Volkswagen Rabbit in the United States and Canada (Mk1 and Mk5), and as the Volkswagen Caribe in Mexico (Mk1).
The front-wheel drive Golf was Volkswagen’s first successful replacement for the air-cooled Volkswagen Beetle. Historically, it is Volkswagen’s best-selling model and the world’s third best-selling model, with more than 25 million built by 2007.
Most production of the Golf was initially in the 3-door hatchback style. Other variants include a 5-door hatchback, estate/wagon (Variant, from 1993), convertible (Cabriolet and Cabrio, 1979-2002), and a Golf-derived notchback saloon/sedan, variously called Volkswagen Jetta, Volkswagen Vento or Volkswagen Bora (from 1979). The cars have filled many market segments, from basic personal cars, to high-performance hot hatches.
The nameplate Golf derives from the German word for Gulf Stream — and the period in its history when VW named vehicles after prominent winds, including also the Passat (after the German word for Trade wind), Jetta (after Jet stream), Bora (after Bora) and Scirocco (after Sirocco).
Main article: Volkswagen Golf Mk1
In May, 1974 Volkswagen presented the first-generation Golf as a modern front wheel drive long-range replacement for the Volkswagen Beetle. Later Golf variations included the Golf GTI “hot hatch” (introduced in June, 1976), a Diesel-powered version (from September, 1976), the Jetta notchback saloon version (from October, 1979), the Golf Cabriolet (from January, 1980) and a Golf-based pickup, the Volkswagen Caddy. All variants proved instantly popular with the only notable technical flaw being the poor braking in RHD models, due to the master cylinder for the brakes being placed on the left for LHD cars, as Volkswagen never intended the Golf to be sold abroad.
The Golf Mk1 was sold as the Volkswagen Rabbit in the United States and Canada, and as the Volkswagen Caribe in Mexico.
A facelifted version of the Golf Mk1 was produced in South Africa as the Citi Golf from 1984 to 2009.

 

1. Toyota Corolla ( From 1966- Till today)

Approximate Sales: 35,050,000

The Toyota Corolla is a line of subcompact/compact cars manufactured by the Japanese automaker Toyota, which has become very popular throughout the world since the nameplate was first introduced in 1966. In 1997, the Corolla became the best selling nameplate in the world, with over 35 million sold as of 2007. Over the past 40 years, one Corolla car has been sold on average every 40 seconds. The series has undergone several major redesigns.
The name Corolla is part of Toyota’s naming tradition of using the name Crown for primary models: the Corona, for example, gets its name from the Latin for crown; Corolla is Latin for small crown; and Camry is an Anglicized pronunciation of the Japanese for crown, kanmuri.
Corollas are manufactured in Japan and in Brazil (Indaiatuba, São Paulo), Canada (Cambridge, Ontario), China (Tianjin), India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom (Derbyshire) and Venezuela. Production has previously been made in Australia (Victoria). Production in the United States (Fremont, California) is scheduled to end in March 2010.
The Corolla’s chassis designation code is “E”, as described in Toyota’s chassis and engine codes.

That was our exhaustive list of top 10 most sold cars in the world.