Guess which country buys more Tesla Model Ys than any other car? Here's the No.1 best selling cars around the world, from the Suzuki Swift and Toyota Yaris to the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Ranger

Aussies love utes. We can’t get enough of them. In fact the best selling car last year in Australia wasn’t a car, it was the Ford Ranger ute, and could take the crown again this year if it can hold off the Toyota RAV4. The thing is our taste in cars is different to what people in other countries love to buy and drive. 

Yep, even though we live in a global community, watch the same TV shows, listen to the same music, and we’re all on social media liking the same things, when it comes to buying a car each country is very much not the same when we pick what we drive.

So, we’ve put together a list (in no particular order) of the top selling vehicles for each country. Originally we were just going to do five countries but it just kept going, because each is like a little fascinating alternative universe that for some reason just loves a particular type of car.

United Kingdom: Ford Puma

For a place that has so much in common with Australia, the British really have wildly different taste in cars. The best-selling vehicle in the UK in 2023 was the Ford Puma small SUV. This year more than 30,000 have been sold in the UK putting it on-track to be the No.1 seller again in 2024.

In Australia people never really took to the Puma and Ford announced earlier this year that it would discontinue the petrol-powered model with a full EV version to arrive in the future.

For the record Ford only sold 829 this year so far.

France: Renault Clio

Even though the actual word ‘utility’ comes from the Old French ‘utilite’ France isn’t very fond of utes, but it loves the little Renault Clio hatch, which was the best selling car there in 2023 and it’s on track to doing it again in 2024 if it can hold off the Dacia Sandero.

Italy: Fiat Panda

Italy sure knows what it wants and what it wants is the Fiat Panda, which was the best-selling car in 2023 and for the 12 consecutive years before that and will be this year too. Tiny and fun to drive, the little Panda hatch is about the size of a Kia Picanto, but cute and tough looking, plus I once moved my entire flat using one. It’s a shame we don’t get them here.

Germany: Volkswagen Golf

In what could be the most predictable sentence ever written, the best-selling car in Germany for 2023 was the Volkswagen Golf. Sales of the iconic hatch are currently still strong and the only models that pose any sort of threat to it being the 2024 best seller are other Volkswagens: the T-Roc and Tiguan SUVs. Whatever happens it’ll be Volkswagen 1, 2 and 3 in 2024.

United States: Ford F-150

The word big in the United States seems to have a different meaning to the word in Australia because our utes, which we think of as big, aren’t anywhere near as large as the Ford F-150 pick-up that is the best selling vehicle in the US. 

The F-150 is the smallest pick-up in the F-Series range that reaches enormous proportions. Talking of enormous, the total sales for the F-Series range in a year in the US is often more than the combined total of all new cars sold in Australia in a year.

Canada: Ford F-150

Just like its southern counterparts the F-150 is the biggest selling car in Canada. Seriously, if Canadians are that fed up with being mistaken for US Americans then they should start by picking a different car to be obsessed with, like the Subaru Forester, which seems purpose-built for an icy wilderness. Still, this year the F-150 continues to outsell every other model.  

Russia: Lada Granta

You won’t see many Ford F-150s in Russia but you will see more Lada Grantas than you can possibly count with this little sedan being crowned the tsar of new car sales in 2023. 

Looking a lot like a 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer, only more awkward, the entry level Granta boasts anti-locking brakes, front power windows and a radio. Probably the best thing about the Granta is the advertising slogan: “Keeps its word!” Nothing worse than a promise-breaking liar of a car in Russia apparently. 

China: Model Y

Despite China having more local car manufacturers than any other country it’s Tesla and its Model Y SUV which was the best selling car in 2023. That will almost certainly change for 2024 with the homegrown hero BYD’s Qin Plus EV sedan proving to be super popular.  

Saudi Arabia: Toyota Yaris

Not all cars in Saudi Arabia are gold-plated Rolls Royces, actually the best selling car for 2023 there was the Toyota Yaris. Yep, for the largest petroleum exporter in the world Saudis sure do love a fuel-efficient, low key way to get around with 200,000 sold so far this year already.  

India: Suzuki Swift

India knows a good car when it sees one and the Suzuki Swift is the country’s bestseller for 2023 with more than 200,000 sold. Suzuki, also known as Maruti Suzuki is huge in India, and the Swift is even manufactured there.

Japan: Honda N-Box

Japan is up there as one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world making everything from the enormous Toyota LandCruisers to agile little Mazda MX-5s but what car did the Japanese buy the most last year? Shaped like a toaster, the Honda N-Box is only 3.4m long but it has seven seats and is perfect for carrying around lots of family members through narrow streets.