Corolla at two, Tesla Model Y at three
The Toyota RAV4 was the best-selling passenger car in the world in 2022. This is evident from data from Jato Dynamics. The Top 10 best-selling cars in the world is dominated by Japanese brands. Tesla is in the international Top 10 with two cars.
Jato Dynamics reports that 79.4 new passenger cars will be registered worldwide in 2022. A huge number, but it was 2 percent less than the 80.7 million new passenger cars that left the showroom in 2021. Important here: light commercial vehicles are not included in the figures. Registration figures of pick-ups such as the Ford F-150 are included in the Jato Dynamics data.
According to Jato Dynamics, the fact that fewer new passenger cars will be registered worldwide in 2022 is partly due to problems in the supply chains and a shrinking car market in China. Sanctions against Russia imposed by countries and car manufacturers also played a role in the decrease in the number of cars delivered. In Russia, car sales will plummet by 59 percent to around 1 million units in 2022.
Best selling cars 2022
The Toyota RAV4 was the best-selling car in the world in 2022 with 1.02 million units delivered worldwide last year. Although the RAV4 leads the way, last year sales were 10 percent fewer than in 2021. Only 9 percent of all RAV4s found an owner in Europe. 43 percent were registered in the United States and Canada and 33 percent in China. The number two is also a Toyota: the Corolla. In particular, even the Corolla Sedan, which is known as Levin in China, among other things. The Corolla Sedan will have sold 992,000 units in 2022, 10 percent less than a year earlier. More than half of these Corollas sedans found an owner in China, 22 percent in the United States and Canada and a meager 6 percent in Europe.
Also very interesting is the number three: the Tesla Model Y. The electric crossover accounted for 747,000 deliveries in 2022, 91 percent more than in 2021. Of these, 44 percent had a Chinese owner, 34 percent an American or Canadian owner and 19 percent a European one. In tenth place we also find a Tesla. That place is for the Model 3, of which 482,000 copies left the showroom in 2022. That was 3 percent less than one year previously. 19 percent of those Models 3 were registered in Europe, 47 percent in the United States and Canada and 28 percent in China.
In the top 10 most popular cars of 2022, we find a lot of Japanese. For example, the ever-popular CR-V (733,000 units) from Honda is in fourth place and we find the Toyota’s Camry, Hilux and Corolla Cross in fifth, sixth and eighth place consecutively. The Nissan Sentra claims seventh place. After Tesla, Ford is the only other non-Japanese manufacturer to occupy a place in the top 10. The Ford F-150, which cannot be towed in the United States, is in ninth position with 525,000 registered units.
| Position | Brand | Fashion model | Number (2022) | Versus 2021 | % in China | % in US/Canada | % in Europe |
| 1 | Toyota | RAV4 | 1,016,000 | -10% | 33% | 43% | 9% |
| 2 | Toyota | Corolla Sedan/Levin | 992,000 | -10% | 53% | 22% | 6% |
| 3 | Tesla | Model Y | 747,000 | +91% | 44% | 34% | 19% |
| 4 | Honda | CR-V | 733,000 | -18% | 52% | 36% | 2% |
| 5 | Toyota | Camry | 673,000 | -1% | 40% | 45% | 1% |
| 6 | Toyota | Hilux | 632,000 | +13% | 0.3% | 0% | 6% |
| 7 | Nissan | Sentra | 566,000 | -18% | 80% | 15% | 0% |
| 8 | Toyota | Corolla Cross | 530,000 | +221% | 42% | 12% | 0% |
| 9 | Ford | F-150 | 525,000 | -5% | 0% | 97% | 0.1% |
| 10 | Tesla | Model 3 | 482,000 | -3% | 28% | 47% | 19% |
EV growth
In 2022, 7.37 fully electric cars worldwide found an owner, 66 percent (+2.9 million) more than in 2021. Electric cars accounted for a share of more than 9 percent in deliveries worldwide. In Norway, no less than 71 percent of all new cars sold in 2022 will be fully electric. In absolute terms, China is the largest EV market in the world. In China, 53 percent of all new passenger cars sold last year were EVs.
Biggest brands
Toyota Motor Corporation was the largest car manufacturer in the world in 2022, followed by the Volkswagen Group in second place. While Toyota saw its global market share increase by 0.3 percentage point, Volkswagen saw its share decrease by 0.7 percentage point. Hyundai Motor Group can call itself the largest manufacturer after the Volkswagen Group. The fastest growing brand in 2022 was the Chinese BYD, which saw its global market share grow by 1.5 percentage points. BYD is the second largest EV manufacturer in the world after Tesla. Last year, 1.5 million cars of Chinese brands were delivered outside China, no less than 48 percent more than a year earlier.
SUV remains popular
Of the 79.2 million new passenger cars sold in 2022, no less than 32.8 percent were SUVs. The market share of SUVs increased from 39.7 percent in 2021 to over 41 percent last year. In Europe, the popularity of SUVs and crossovers increased relatively most strongly. SUVs account for 43 percent of sales in Europe, 4.3 percentage points more than in 2021. Only in North America is their market share higher (54 percent, China 41 percent). 20 percent of all new cars delivered in 2022 were sedans, 16 percent hatchbacks and 8 percent pickups. MPVs still accounted for a share of 4 percent.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl