Small Pug hangs on to sales lead
3 December 2002: Peugeot's 206 supermini is holding onto its lead as best-selling car in Europe by less than 6,000 units against Volkswagen's Golf - which says something about the popularity of the VW car on its last year in the current model.
The 206 sold 518,028 units in the first 10 months of the year, and compared with the January to October 2001 period, 206 sales fell 4.4 per cent and the Golf by 10 percent. The overall European market is about 500,000 units down on the same time last year.
Coming up fast is the new Mazda 6, narrowly beaten into second place by the new Renault Megane in the latest European car of the year awards and winner of the Semperit Irish Car of the Year 2003..
The Renault Scenic, the first European compact MPV is still selling marginally ahead of the Opel Zafira, selling 211,967 units against the Zafira's 206,448 in the first 10 months.
The new Mini helped boost BMW group sales from 458,938 units to 536,630 in the same period this year, while overall PSA Peugeot Citroen sales were up 1,866,167 units from 1,846,586 in 2001. The Ford Fiesta is also above 2001 levels.
Toyota's latest Corolla has been a winner for the brand and helped boost the marque's sales to 540,167 units up 14.8 percent on 2001 levels. Toyota aims to gain 5 per cent of European sales by 2005.