The Burrow
Apr 17, 2024
When you’re buying a new car, there are multiple factors you’ll likely take into consideration: what your budget is, what spec you need, and what size you’re looking for. You’ll also likely have a preferred colour and brand, but most importantly, you’ll want a car that’s reliable, and will get you from A-B.
Interestingly, the car market differs vastly across the world, with some places preferring smaller models, unlike countries such as the USA, where trucks are favoured for the wide, open roads.
However, regardless of which model you choose, it’s important you take out car insurance to cover you, should you get into an accident, regardless of whether or not it’s your fault.
With that in mind, we wanted to uncover the most popular car models around the world, by looking at search volumes in each country. So, read on to find out if your car made the cut.
Coming top in seven countries, the Tesla Model Y is officially the most popular car in the world. It topped the leaderboard in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the USA. In fact, in the USA, the Tesla Model 3 came top as well, tying three-ways with the Honda CR-V.
The search volume was highest in the US (which makes sense, with it having the largest population); with 673,000 searches every month, on average. In second place was Denmark, with 74,000 monthly searches.
Three car models tied in second place, coming top in three countries. These are the Nissan Qashqai, coming top in Cyprus, Ireland, and the UK; the Toyota Corolla, in Estonia, Ireland, and Turkey; and the Volkswagen Golf, in Austria, Czechia, and Germany.
Interestingly, according to Statista, the Toyota Corolla saw the most global sales in 2022, with 1.12 million.1 Toyota and Ford models come in second and third, but the Tesla Model Y made it into fourth place, with roughly 760,000 sales around the world in 2022.
The four car models already mentioned aside; Europe isn’t loyal to any specific car brand, with many of them popular.
There are several models that come top in two countries; including the Audi A3 in Belgium and the UK, and the Fiat 500 – obviously top in its homeland of Italy, as well as France. The Fiat 500 sees 823,000 searches every month in Italy, compared to a (still very respectable) 450,000 in France – which tied with the Peugeot 208.
The Audi A3 sees search volume on a smaller scale, with 135,000 monthly searches on average in the UK, and 74,000 in Belgium.
The Kia Sportage comes top in Poland and the UK, with 201,000 and 135,000 monthly searches respectively; the Peugeot 208 reigns supreme in France and Portugal; and the Toyota Yaris tops the leaderboard in Greece and Cyprus, albeit with lower search volumes at 40,500 and 2,400 a month.
However, the most popular European car is actually the Škoda Octavia, which came top in Slovakia (301,000 monthly searches), Romania (74,000), and Hungary (27,100). Manufactured in Czechia, the Škoda Superb and Volkswagen Golf are the preferred models there, with 673,000 monthly searches each.
So, while some countries seem to prefer cars that have been manufactured in their homeland, we can see there’s still a demand for international, with a variety of car models actively searched for.
In Australia, three cars come top, with 90,500 searches a month: the Ford Ranger, Mitsubishi Outlander, and Toyota Hilux.
The Isuzu D-Max and Tesla Model Y see the second most monthly searches, at 74,000; followed by the Mazda CX-5, at 60,500 – showing that whilst there’s crossover across the world with Tesla, a lot of these favourites are specific to Australia and New Zealand (the Mitsubishi Outlander is top in NZ, with 12,100 searches a month; followed by Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux, at 9,900).
Adrian Taylor, Executive General Manager of General Insurance at Compare the Market states: “Whether you’re considering a Tesla or a Toyota, it’s illegal to drive without some level of car insurance, but it also offers so many benefits – whether it’s used, or second-hand.
“Regardless of what type of car you drive, be sure that the correct model is reflected in your insurance documents so that you can be confident you are properly covered.”
Prior to purchasing any policy, always check the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Target Market Determination (TMD) to understand any limits, exclusions or restrictions, as well as your duties as a car owner.
Sources:
Methodology:
This dataset analyses 30 countries, based on how popular the highest selling car models are in each country. To do this, we looked at the average monthly search volume for each car model in each country between Mar 23 – Feb 24, using Google Keyword Planner. The overall results can be found on the ‘Analysis’ sheet.
All data is correct as of 15/03/24. The ranking data shown is a compilation of multiple data sources and may not be representative of real life. All data is accurate with regards to the sources provided.