√The world’s best-selling cars, according to continent

The dual-cab utes and SUVs rule the roost in Australia, but elsewhere in the world, the small cars and even electric vehicles are king.

More than 67 million brand-new cars rolled out of factories in 2022, finding homes from Australia to Argentina and Armenia. The best-selling car in the world in 2022 was the evergreen Toyota Corolla, with more than 1.1 million sales.

But what about the best-selling cars according to each of the seven continents? In Australia we fawn over dual-cab utes, but the humble small car reigns over an entire continent – and in others, there is no stopping the electric vehicle, one in particular.

In this article, we take you on a journey around the seven continents of the world to reveal the most popular new cars – and you might be surprised. The continents, for those who’ve forgotten their primary school geography, are Africa, Antarctica (yes, we’ve covered that off below), Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America.

Note that by ‘car’ we mean a light vehicle primarily intended to carry passengers, which includes SUVs and light utilities such as dual-cab utes.

Africa: Toyota HiLux

Despite a population exceeding 1.2 billion people, the new car market across the 54 countries of Africa remains relatively small, with just 1.3 million sales forecast for 2023. And the best-seller?

Reliable data is scarce, but you’d be unwise to bet against a robust, unbreakable, workhorse of a vehicle: the Toyota HiLux. For the last 10 years, the HiLux has dominated South Africa, Africa’s biggest new car market with around 550,000 annual sales. In Africa’s other big new-car market, Egypt, the Chevrolet T-Series – the Isuzu D-Max in Australia – was last year’s best-seller.

Antarctica: Toyota HiLux

Okay, so you won’t find too many new car dealerships in Antarctica – a continent almost twice the size of Australia – but you might find one of 27 specially built Toyota Hiluxes.

Arctic Trucks is the only company permitted to drive to the South Pole or undertake long expeditions, and for that it sells a Toyota HiLux with enormous, balloon-like tyres and pumped bodywork, purpose-built for one of the most unforgiving environments in the world.

Asia: Tesla Model Y

Mention Asia, and you really mean China. In 2022, the Chinese new car market shifted 23 million vehicles – more than the Indian, Japanese and Korean new car markets combined, by a long way.

While the battle for best-selling brand in China is hotter than ever – in April, BYD booted VW off a top spot it had held since 2008 – for specific models, it’s Tesla’s Model Y. Tesla sold 94,469 Model Ys in China in the first quarter of 2023, helping it become the best-selling new passenger vehicle in the world for that same period.

Australia: Toyota HiLux

For decades, a four-door sedan would have taken this spot, but since 2016 there’s been no stopping one vehicle in particular: the Toyota HiLux. Last year, Toyota sold 64,391 Hiluxes, with the Ford Ranger Australia’s second best-selling vehicle.

The old sedan obsession has been pushed out by dual-cab utes – and SUVs – vehicles that promise to take their owners to the outback without drama, even if most of them will be lucky to see a dirt driveway.

Europe: Tesla Model Y

In 2022, the Peugeot 208 was Europe’s favourite car, usurping the stubbornly popular Volkswagen Golf which, until then, had been the continent’s best-seller for 14 years. But for 2023, the little Frenchie is set to be pipped itself – by Tesla’s Model Y.

In the first six months of this year, Tesla sold 125,144 units of its electric SUV, pipping the Dacia Sandero by just 7000 sales. The Sandero might yet beat the Tesla in the final 2023 figures, but it’s looking unlikely – meaning Europe’s favourite vehicle for 2023 will, for the first time, probably be an electric one.

North America: Ford F-Series

Everything is bigger in America, so it’s somewhat unsurprising the most popular type of vehicle in the USA is the Ford F-Series pick-up truck. Ford estimated that in 2022 it sold one F-Series truck every 49 seconds.

The big rig is no best-selling newbie, either, having held the top spot for a lazy 41 years in a row now. And it’s unlikely to be knocked off anytime soon – in the first three quarters of 2023, Ford sold 573,370 F-Series trucks to 403,403 of Chevrolet’s Silverado, a huge difference.

South America: Chevrolet Onix

A quirky car-based pick-up truck, the Fiat Strada might be a best-seller in Brazil – Latin America’s biggest new-car market by far – but the South American continent as a whole is most interested in the Chevrolet Onix, a small five-door hatchback and four-door sedan.

Whereas other continents go gaga over SUVs, the dominant class of car in South America is ‘subcompact’ – small cars. That said, vehicles like the Toyota HiLux are not far behind, and the SUV continues to gather pace.