Brazil Top 50 Models: 2025 (Jan-Oct)

Registrations for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles were down 1% in October but up 3% YTD. That is very stable data. 

Looking down the list, the mixture of colours shows the diversity of the market. Not having a local brand to support adds to that. 

Europe is strong but so too is the USA and increasingly China. Japan is not far off the pace but apart from two models, Korea is not represented. 

The leading model is the Fiat Strada, which is a small leisure vehicle/pick uptruck. The VW Polo and Chevrolet Onix are tussling it out for second the spot.

Brazil has recently increased tariffs on imported electric cars, designed to encourage local assembly. I could see that being advantageous for some other countries to do something similar.

Data source: Fenebrave.

Photos: Fiat (Strada) & GM (Onix) Brasil. 

Italy Top 50 Models: 2025 (Jan-Oct)

Registrations were down 1% in October and 3% down YTD so steady as she goes. 67,600 electric cars were sold for the ten months YTD and 80,150 plug in hybrid cars. That represents 5% and 6% respectively.

Colour coding reveals that while European brands are a common sight on Italian stradas, there are plenty of cars from other regions.

Fiat used to be so dominant here but now struggles to maintain its top spot overall. At least for models, the Panda saves the day with nearly 90,000 sales. That is 72% of total Fiat registrations in Italy.

The Dacia Sandero retains second place and the Jeep Avenger a very high third. I was surprised to see the BYD Seal U making the chart but the times they are a changin'.DR has a model down the list. It is an Italian firm that assembles Chinese made models.

Data source: UNRAE.

Photo source: Jeep (Avenger) & DR (DR.5).

Netherlands Top 50 Models: 2025 (Jan-Oct)

Passenger car registrations were up 8% in October but down 1% YTD. In October, hybrid cars (PHEV) reached nearly 47% share and electric cars (BEV) 40%.

A change in bijtelling, or a company car tax, is helping push up PHEV and BEV sales leading up to January 2026 when the change takes place.

Government incentives coming and going affect the car industry. It often ends up creating spikes and slumps in registrations.

Colour coding shows that European models are popular but not as much as many other European markets.

Kia is a surprising top brand in the Netherlands. It has three of the top four models. I do prefer them to Hyundai's and they do here too.

Korean models have nine of the Top 50 and Japan only six which is unusual outside of Korea. The US does reasonably well with five models. 

Data source: Bovag.

Photo source: Kia (EV3) and Tesla (Model Y) Nederland.