VW Golf overtakes Tesla Model Y as Europe's top-seller

The Volkswagen Golf was Europe's No. 1 seller for October, ending the Tesla Model Y's one-month reign as Europe's best-seller. VW sold 17,234 units of the compact hatchback, nearly double its volume during the same month last year. The Golf was also Europe's best-selling compact through 10 months.

The Tesla Model Y slipped out of the top 50, with sales dropping to 2,887 in October from 29,720 units in September. The Model Y remained Europe's best-selling premium midsize SUV through 10 months because it has such a large lead over the rest of the field.

The Peugeot 208 was No. 2 in October with a volume of 17,218, a gain of 23 percent, according to revised figures from market researcher Dataforce (some markets reported their figures later than expected). The 208 was also Europe's No. 1 seller through 10 months with 179,846 sales, a rise of 12 percent over the first 10 months of 2021.

The Toyota Yaris rounded out the top three with sales of 16,183 units, more than double its result from the same month last year. The 135 percent increase pushed it ahead of last month's No. 3, the Dacia Sandero, by just 188 sales.

The Golf takes its second monthly victory of 2022. The last time it led was in February.

Through October, six different models have finished the month as Europe's top-seller.

The other monthly winners in 2022 have been the Dacia Sandero (January), VW Golf (February and October), Tesla Model 3 (March), 208 (April-June), VW T-Roc (July-August) and the Model Y (September).

In October every model in the top 10 recorded a sales increase with the exception of the Renault Clio, which was down 6.5 percent, according to Dataforce's revised figures.

The others cars in the top 50 to report big gains were the VW Tiguan (+180 percent), Toyota Yaris Cross (+163 percent), Skoda Octavia (+111 percent), Ford Puma (+195 percent) and the Audi A3 (+104 percent).