VW Golf loses top spot to Renault Clio

FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen's Golf lost its top spot as Europe's best-selling car to the Renault Clio in February.

Both cars lost volume in a European market down 7 percent in the month but the Golf's sales drop was bigger.

Registrations of the Clio small-segment hatchback fell 4 percent to 24,914 while the compact Golf's volume was down 21 percent to 24,625, according to figures from JATO Dynamics.

Other changes in the top 10 best-selling cars included the Fiat Panda moving into the 5th position (see chart below).

The eighth-generation Golf went on sale in Europe in December after a delay because of software glitches in its advanced digital features.

The fifth-generation Clio small hatchback went on sale in June, adding a fuel-saving hybrid variant.

The Golf  is fighting for its long-term survival against the growing popularity of SUV/crossovers and the coming wave of electric cars including the Golf-sized VW ID3.

VW's Tiguan crossover became the brand's best-selling model globally in 2019, helped by a boom in China, VW's biggest single market.

In 2019, the Tiguan's global sales fell to 778,000 units from 795,000 in the prior year. Worldwide sales of the Golf dropped to 702,000 from 832,000.

Consumers migrating away from the compact hatchback segment have not just opted for the Tiguan, whose size is between the Golf and the Passat. Many are also downsizing, choosing smaller crossovers such as the new VW T-Cross.