The Dacia Sandero is on track to be Europe's best-seller for the third time in four months, helped by a 37 percent sales increase in April compared with the same month in 2023.
The small hatchback from Renault Group's budget brand leads the Volkswagen Golf, 24,835 to 21,592, according to Dataforce's preliminary data representing 98 percent of sales in the European Union, the EFTA countries and the U.K.
Golf sales were up 65 percent in April, continuing a big comeback for the compact hatchback that until the last few years dominated sales in Europe.
VW in January unveiled a major face-lift to the Golf to extend the model's life before it moves to an all-electric drivetrain for the next generation.
In third place was the Renault Clio, with 19,310 sales, a rise of 24 percent on April 2023.
Not far behind was the VW T-Roc, with 19,225 sales, a rise of 16 percent, according to Dataforce's preliminary figures.
That means there could be a change in the No. 3 and No. 4 slots once all markets report their figures.
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Rounding out the top five was the Peugeot 208, with sales of 17,273 (+18 percent).
Missing from the top 20 is last month's No. 1-seller, the Tesla Model Y, which was at No. 26 with 9,329 sales, a decrease of 11 percent on the same month last year.
Telsa has been embroiled in a six-month-long strike in Sweden, where dockworkers have blocked the EV maker's car deliveries by ship to the country since December.
The Sandero was Europe's top-seller in January and February, and it maintained the overall sales lead through the first four months of 2024.
There is a close race for the No. 6 spot with the Skoda Octavia ahead of the Toyota Yaris by just four sales.
Another competitive race is for 10th place, with the Citroen C3 leading the Ford Puma by 14,812 to 14,418.
Toyota had six models in the April top 50, led by the Yaris small car at No. 7, followed by Skoda with five, led by the Octavia at No. 6.
VW had four, led by the Golf at No. 2, while seven automakers including Renault, Peugeot, BMW and Volvo had three, according to Dataforce's preliminary figures.
