The Peugeot 208 is now the most popular car in Europe, overtaking the previous raining champion, the Volkswagen Golf. The Golf has been at the top spot since 2007 but has since dropped, with Peugeot selling 177,203 more cars than VW did with the Golf in 2022. The 208 saw 206,816 sales last year, which is a 5% improvement than that of 2021.
11.3 million new cars were sold in EU markets including the the UK, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland last year, according to new records published by Jato Dynamics. This is actually the lowest the car market has been since 1985 and is a steep 29% drop since 2019. Most of the issues are stemmed from the semiconductor supply issues, ongoing inflation and of course, energy prices. Car prices themselves have been rising and with regards to the Golf, Volkswagen has been hit hard by the chip shortages as well as a large order backlog.
With the Peugeot 208, it has become the most popular car in Europe, followed by the the Dacia Sandero. Other small cars saw strong sales, including the Fiat 500, which saw a 3% clime as well as the Vauxhall Corsa (and Opel Corse) and the Toyota Yaris.
MG also saw huge increases in sales, with 114,000 units sold which is an increase of 116%.
