Tesla Model Y poised to be top seller for September, 9 months in Europe

The Tesla Model Y is in position to finish September as Europe's top-seller, earning the honor for the sixth time in nine months, despite a decline in sales.

Demand for Tesla's midsize SUV slipped 8.4 percent to 26,370, based on preliminary figures from market researcher Dataforce.

The Peugeot 208 and Renault Clio small hatchback were not able to take advantage of the dip despite increasing sales 11 percent and 26 percent, respectively last month, according to data representing 95 percent of sales in the European Union, the EFTA countries and the U.K.

The Clio is in a tight race with the fast-rebounding Volkswagen Golf, which had a 21 percent rise in sales to 19,317. That left the Golf just 414 units behind the Clio with a few more markets left to report their September figures.

The Dacia Sandero rounded out the top five with 18,587 sales, a rise of 7.6 percent on the same month last year, according to the preliminary data.

The T-Roc, which was July's top-seller in Europe, slipped to No. 7 in September despite a 7.8 percent sales increase to 16,859.

The T-Roc is in a close race with the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa for the No. 7 slot as the small SUV has a 459 unit lead over the small hatchback.

Meanwhile, the VW Tiguan, aided by a 14 percent rise, is 223 units ahead of the Nissan Qashqai (+ 2.7 percent) to determine the final two spots in the top 10 for September.

That means there could be some changes once all markets have reported their sales data.

Other cars poised to make big sales gains in September are the Citroen C3 (+25 percent), Toyota Yaris Cross (+18 percent) and Fiat 500 (+13 percent).