Economy Most popular car makers by country (with market share)

Travelling in different countries I couldn't help but notice that the brands of cars on the road can vary quite a bit. Obviously people tend to buy more cars from their own country, either for patriotic reasons or because the marketing is better, the cars are designed in accordance with the expectations of the local culture, or simply because their are more car dealers in rural areas, which makes it more convenient for the maintenance. Countries that do not have local car makers may therefore be more interesting to compare if one wants to get an idea of what kind of car people really like regardless of chauvinistic feelings and convenience.

Here are the top 10 brands in a few selected countries in 2017.

Top car makers in the USA

  1. Ford : 14.3%
  2. Toyota : 12.3%
  3. Chevrolet : 12%
  4. Honda : 8.6%
  5. Nissan : 8.3%
  6. Jeep : 4.8%
  7. Hyundai : 3.9%
  8. Subaru : 3.7%
  9. Kia : 3.4%
  10. GMC : 3.2%
Source


Top car makers in Japan

  1. Toyota : 30.3%
  2. Honda : 13.8%
  3. Suzuki : 12.7%
  4. Daihatsu : 12%
  5. Nissan : 11.3%
  6. Mazda : 4%
  7. Subaru : 3.3%
  8. Mitsubishi : 1.7%
  9. Isuzu : 1.5%
  10. Mercedes-Benz : 1.3%
Source


Top car makers in the UK

  1. Ford : 11.3%
  2. Volkswagen : 8.2%
  3. Vauxhall (Opel) : 7.7%
  4. Mercedes-Benz : 7.1%
  5. BMW : 6.9%
  6. Audi : 6.9%
  7. Nissan : 5.9%
  8. Toyota : 4%
  9. Hyundai : 3.7%
  10. Kia : 3.6%
Source


Top car makers in Ireland

  1. Volkswagen : 10.5%
  2. Toyota : 9.7%
  3. Ford : 9.3%
  4. Hyundai : 9.1%
  5. Nissan : 7.9%
  6. Skoda : 6.9%
  7. Renault : 6.3%
  8. Kia : 5.4%
  9. Opel : 5%
  10. Audi : 4.2%
Source

Top car makers in France

  1. Renault : 19.7%
  2. Peugeot : 17.4%
  3. Citroën : 9.5%
  4. Volkswagen : 6.6%
  5. Dacia : 5.6%
  6. Toyota : 4.2%
  7. Ford : 4%
  8. Nissan : 3.4%
  9. Fiat : 3.2%
  10. Mercedes-Benz : 3.2%
Source


Top car makers in Germany

  1. Volkswagen : 18.4%
  2. Mercedes-Benz : 9.5%
  3. Audi : 8.2%
  4. BMW : 7.6%
  5. Ford : 7.2%
  6. Opel : 7.1%
  7. Skoda : 5.6%
  8. Renault : 3.9%
  9. Hyundai : 3.2%
  10. Seat : 3.1%
Source


Top car makers in Italy

  1. Fiat : 20.4%
  2. Volkswagen : 7.3%
  3. Ford : 6.8%
  4. Renault : 6.8%
  5. Peugeot : 5.3%
  6. Opel : 5%
  7. Toyota : 4.3%
  8. Citroën : 4.1%
  9. Audi : 3.4%
  10. Mercedes-Benz : 3.3%
Source


Top car makers in Spain

  1. Renault : 8.2%
  2. Seat : 7.6%
  3. Volkswagen : 7.3%
  4. Peugeot : 7.1%
  5. Opel : 7%
  6. Toyota : 5.4%
  7. Citroën : 5.2%
  8. Nissan : 5.1%
  9. Ford : 5.1%
  10. Kia : 4.8%
Source


Top car makers in Belgium

  1. Volkswagen : 10.1%
  2. Renault : 9.1%
  3. BMW : 7.7%
  4. Opel : 7.4%
  5. Peugeot : 7.2%
  6. Mercedes-Benz : 6.4%
  7. Audi : 6.2%
  8. Citroën : 4.8%
  9. Ford : 4.8%
  10. Hyundai : 3.7%
Source


Top car makers in the Netherlands

  1. Volkswagen : 10.4%
  2. Renault : 9.8%
  3. Opel : 8.4%
  4. Peugeot : 7.5%
  5. Toyota : 5.8%
  6. Ford : 5.7%
  7. Kia : 5.6%
  8. BMW : 4.5%
  9. Skoda : 4%
  10. Mercedes-Benz : 3.8%
Source


Top car makers in Switzerland

  1. Volkswagen
  2. Mercedes-Benz
  3. BMW
  4. Skoda
  5. Audi
  6. Opel
  7. Renault
  8. Ford
  9. Seat
  10. Toyota
Source


Top car makers in Norway
  1. Volkswagen : 14.6%
  2. Toyota : 11.3%
  3. BMW : 8.3%
  4. Volvo : 7.4%
  5. Mercedes-Benz : 6.7%
  6. Skoda : 5.7%
  7. Tesla : 5.3%
  8. Audi : 4.8%
  9. Ford : 4.3%
  10. Nissan : 4%
Source

Top car makers in Sweden

  1. Volvo : 19.9%
  2. Volkswagen : 15.2%
  3. Kia : 6.1%
  4. Toyota : 6.1%
  5. BMW : 5.6%
  6. Audi : 5.4%
  7. Mercedes-Benz : 5.2%
  8. Skoda : 4.6%
  9. Renault : 4.2%
  10. Ford : 3.1%
Source


Top car makers in Poland

  1. Skoda : 11.6%
  2. Toyota : 9.8%
  3. Volkswagen : 9.6%
  4. Opel : 7.1%
  5. Ford : 6.7%
  6. Renault : 6.6%
  7. Kia : 4.7%
  8. Dacia : 4.4%
  9. Hyundai : 4.2%
  10. Mercedes-Benz : 3.9%
Source


Top car makers in Australia

  1. Toyota : 18.2%
  2. Mazda : 9.8%
  3. Hyundai : 8.2%
  4. Holden : 7.6%
  5. Mitsubishi : 6.8%
  6. Ford : 6.6%
  7. Volkswagen : 4.9%
  8. Nissan : 4.8%
  9. Kia : 4.6%
  10. Subaru : 4.4%
Source


Top car makers in Brazil

  1. General Motors : 18.8%
  2. Volkswagen : 11.7%
  3. Ford : 10.2%
  4. Hyundai : 9.7%
  5. Fiat : 9.3%
  6. Toyota : 8.4%
  7. Renault : 8%
  8. Honda : 7.1%
  9. Jeep : 4.8%
  10. Nissan : 4%
Source
 
Click to expand...
Here is where the two leading car manufacturers, Toyota and VW, hold the highest market share in major countries.

Toyota

  1. Japan : 30.3%
  2. Australia : 18.2%
  3. Finland : 12.4%
  4. USA : 12.3%
  5. Norway : 11.3%
  6. Canada : 9.8%
  7. Poland : 9.8%
  8. Ireland : 9.7%
  9. Brazil : 8.4%
  10. Denmark : 7.6%
  11. Mexico : 6.9%
  12. Sweden : 6.1%
  13. Netherlands : 5.8%
  14. Spain : 5.4%
  15. Italy : 4.3%
  16. France : 4.2%
  17. UK : 4%
  18. Portugal : 3.8%
  19. Belgium : 3.3%
  20. Austria : 2.5%

Volkswagen

  1. Germany : 18.4%
  2. Austria : 16.6%
  3. Sweden : 15.2%
  4. Norway : 14.6%
  5. Denmark : 13.3%
  6. Mexico : 12.6%
  7. Brazil : 11.7%
  8. Finland : 10.7%
  9. Ireland : 10.4%
  10. Netherlands : 10.4%
  11. Belgium : 10.1%
  12. Poland : 9.6%
  13. UK : 8.2%
  14. Portugal : 7.4%
  15. Italy : 7.3%
  16. Spain : 7.3%
  17. France : 6.6%
  18. Australia : 4.9%
  19. USA : 1.9%
  20. Japan : 0.9%



Here is where luxury German cars are the most popular.

Mercedes-Benz

  1. Germany : 9.5%
  2. UK : 7.1%
  3. Norway : 6.7%
  4. Finland : 5.4%
  5. Sweden : 5.2%
  6. Austria : 5.1%
  7. Denmark : 4.5%
  8. Spain : 4.2%
  9. Poland : 3.9%
  10. Belgium : 3.8%
  11. Netherlands : 3.8%
  12. Ireland : 3.7%
  13. Italy : 3.3%
  14. France : 3.2%
  15. Canada : 2.5%
  16. USA : 2.2%

BMW

  1. Norway : 8.3%
  2. Belgium : 7.7%
  3. Germany : 7.6%
  4. UK : 6.9%
  5. Sweden : 5.6%
  6. Finland : 4.2%
  7. Austria : 5.3%
  8. Netherlands : 4.5%
  9. Ireland : 3.9%
  10. Spain : 3.9%
  11. Italy : 3.1%
  12. France : 2.9%
  13. Poland : 2.9%
  14. Denmark : 2.7%
  15. Canada : 1.9%
  16. USA : 1.8%

Audi

  1. Germany : 8.2%
  2. UK : 6.9%
  3. Belgium : 6.2%
  4. Sweden : 5.4%
  5. Norway : 4.8%
  6. Austria : 4.8%
  7. Finland : 4.7%
  8. Spain : 4.4%
  9. Ireland : 4.2%
  10. Netherlands : 3.5%
  11. Denmark : 3.5%
  12. Italy : 3.4%
  13. France : 3.1%
  14. Poland : 2.4%
  15. Canada : 1.8%
  16. USA : 1.3%
 
I have created maps to help visualise the market share held by French, German, Japanese and American car makers in Europe. The following data is only for new cars sold in 2019 (not all cars in circulation).

French car manufacturers

This map includes Renault, Peugeot and Citroën. Dacia is owned by Renault but I did not include it as it is historically Romanian, still manufactured and headquartered there and the style is not French.

French_cars_market_share.png



German car manufacturers

This map comprises the market shares of the VW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW, Porsche and smart. I have also included Skoda and SEAT, which are not just owned by VW but their models are almost identical to VW models and share the same designers and parts suppliers. I excluded Mini Cooper, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Ducati, as, although German-owned, these are still considered completely foreign car makers.

German_cars_market_share.png



Japanese car manufacturers

The map includes the market shares of Toyota (+ Lexus), Honda, Nissan (+ Infiniti), Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Isuzu and Datsun.

Japanese_cars_market_share.png




American car manufacturers

The vast majority of American cars in Europe are Fords (most popular in the UK and Turkey). Jeep sales amount to 0 to 0.5% in most countries except for Italy (4.3%) due to the fact that Jeep is now part of the Fiat Chrysler Group. Tesla sale are usually under 1%, except in the Netherlands (6.9%) and Norway (13.2%), where EV are hugely popular. All other US car makers combined amount to less than 0.1% of the European market.

American_cars_market_share.png



Luxury car manufacturers

It is not easy to determine what exactly qualifies as a luxury car (as opposed to premium or just expensive). For example a Toyota Hilux pickup truck cost as much as a Porsche, but it is definitely not a luxury car. Volkswagen makes luxury cars (e.g. the Aerton and Touareg), but that's only a small part of all their models. Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW makes mostly premium or luxury vehicles, but also have smaller models. As the statistics I have are by car maker and not by model, I have decided to include Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Porsche, Maserati, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover, Tesla, Jeep, Lexus, Infiniti, and of course the truly luxury brands like Bentley, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and so on, although the latter only represent 0.1% of the market.

The high percentages in Norway and Sweden are explained by the high market share of Volvo (7.1% and 18.3% respectively) and in Norway's case also Tesla (13%). Portuguese people buy surprisingly lots of expensive cars compared to their GDP per capita (lower than Czechia).

For comparison's sake, the market share of these luxury car makers is 8.1% in the USA and 4.6% in Japan.

Luxury_cars_market_share.png
 
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