VW Golf remains top of sales chart despite Dacia Sandero's challenge

The Volkswagen Golf is on course to be Europe's top-selling car for 2021, fighting off a challenge from the Dacia Sandero.

The Golf dropped out of the top 10 sellers in some months toward the end of the year as VW reduced production at its home plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, due to semiconductor shortages.

Golf output was hit as VW, along with other automakers, prioritized production of models with good profit margins or low emissions.

Golf sales fell 24 percent to 191,924 in Europe in the first 11 months, according to JATO Dynamics market researcher.

The Golf's normally dominant position was challenged by cars mainly from French automakers, with the Sandero small budget hatchback from Renault-owned Dacia in second place through November with sales of 176,650, up 18 percent on the year before.

The Sandero was closely followed by the Renault Clio, with sales of 175,082 through November, down 21 percent. The Clio was the region's best-selling car in November when the Golf finished outside the ten best-sellers.

The big winner in the top 10 was the Peugeot 2008 small SUV at No. 4, with sales of 173,782, up 27 percent. The 2008 was Europe's No. 1 best-seller in October, a month in which the Golf did not reach the top 10 at all.

Peugeot's 208 small hatchback was at No. 5, with registrations, down 1.5 percent to 172,613.

The new-generation Toyota Yaris was a winner early in the year, becoming Europe's best-selling car in January but it finished at No. 6 through November after chip shortages forced Toyota to prioritize other models in the second half including its newly launched Yaris Cross small SUV.

VW's T-Roc small SUV passed the brand's Polo small hatchback in the top 10 with sales up 20 percent to 168,256 to finish at No. 7.

The Fiat 500 had a good year in 2021, breaking into the top 10 to reach No. 9 with sales of 147,695 through November, up 36 percent. The long-running model added a new full-electric version in the year, which boosted sales.

Other top 10 finishers through November were the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa, at No. 8 with sales of 163,568, down 8 percent and the Renault Captur at No. 10, with sales of 145,505, down 8.2 percent.

Traditional strong-selling models that did badly were the Ford Focus and Fiesta, neither of which made the top 10 after Ford struggled with chip supply. Through November, Fiesta registrations fell 44 percent to 80,133 while Focus sales dropped 45 percent to 87,104.

Ford's best-selling model was the Puma small SUV, which sold 122,529, up 17 percent.

The Skoda Octavia was another normally strong seller that finished outside the top 10 in the first 11 months with sales down 20 percent to 130,270. In 2020, it was No. 7.

European sales are expected to finish the year at 13.9 million units, up just 0.2 percent on 2020 when the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted the market, according to analyst firm IHS Markit.

The company predicts 2022 will see that improve that to 15 million as chip shortages ease but warns that other factors such as the fast spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, could prevent a return to normality.

The new year might struggle to deliver meaningful improvement to new car sales levels," said Colin Couchman, IHS Markit's executive director for global light vehicle forecasting.