2009 Top Selling Cars - USA & Europe

Though there are quite a lot of television shows, magazines, websites and blogs to keep track of what's happening in the Global Automotive Industry, nothing beats the sheer excitement of seeing the actual sales figures at the end of every month or year. After all, it's the sales numbers which reveal the actual performance of a vehicle in the market irrespective of the reviews by auto-journalists. Speaking about sales, 2009 is one of those years which would not make an auto manufacturer happy with the numbers. But the positives of the year surely would be the early signs of recovery of the global auto industry with even the two biggest markets of USA and Europe showing signs of hope at the end of the year.

To those of you who are interested in numbers and statistics, and I know there a quite a lot of them, here are the list of Top Selling Cars for the year 2009 in two of the World's biggest markets - USA & Europe.

2009 Top 20 in USA:

1. Ford F-Series - 413,625
2. Toyota Camry - 356,824
3. Chevrolet Silverado - 316,544
4. Toyota Corolla - 296,874
5. Honda Accord - 290,056
6. Honda Civic - 259,722
7. Nissan Altima - 203,568
8. Honda CR-V - 191,214
9. Ford Fusion - 180,671
10. Dodge Ram - 177,268
11. Ford Escape - 173,044
12. Chevrolet Impala - 165,565
13. Chevrolet Malibu - 161,568
14. Ford Focus - 160,433
15. Toyota RAV4 - 149,088
16. Toyota Prius - 139,682
17. Hyundai Sonata - 120,028
18. GMC Sierra - 111,842
19. Chevrolet Cobalt - 104,724
20. Hyundai Elantra - 103,269

• Star Performer of 2009: Ford Fusion 
• Expected Star Performer for 2010: Hyundai Sonata

Ford Fusion has made a stunning entry into the Top 10 from the 19th or so place that it earned in 2008, making it the Star Performer. With the impending launch of the new 6th generation model, I expect the Hyundai Sonata to shake up the market and climb further in the sales charts. All the negative publicity that Toyota has garnered in the recent months is going to be an added advantage for Ford, Honda and Hyundai in 2010.

2009 Top 10 in Europe:

1. Volkswagen Golf - 571,838
2. Ford Fiesta - 472,091
3. Peugeot 207 - 367,160
4. Opel/Vauxhall Corsa - 351,807
5. Fiat Punto - 323,536
6. Renault Clio - 312,925
7. Ford Focus - 309,134
8. Fiat Panda - 298,914
9. Volkswagen Polo - 282,780
10. Opel/Vauxhall Astra - 275,638

• Star Performer of 2009: Ford Fiesta
• Expected Star Performer for 2010: Volkswagen Polo

Calling what the Fiesta has done for Ford globally as an epic turnaround will not reveal the full story. Seriously, the current generation Fiesta has been a textbook success for Ford globally, more so in Europe and China making it a Star Performer. The new generation Polo, which has recently won the 2010 European Car of the Year award and is strongly contending for the 2010 World Car of the Year award is sure to make a strong upward climb in the sales charts in 2010.