Registrations were down 49% last year, but in seven months of 2026 they are up 60%! July was up 45%. This sort of upheaval produces drastic movements and we see that here. In the chart below, the 2025 share below is for the complete year.
Data source: Transpordiamet. Photo source: Škoda (Octavia) Eesti.
Tesla (+48%) and BYD (+67%) share are doing well as is Smart (+106%), the latter having being reinvented as a full electric brand and executed in a 50/50 joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Geely.
Photo source: Toyota (Corolla Cross) Finland.
Registrations were up an impressive 31% for the year. They were also up 38% when compared with the average for the previous ten years. That brought the total to over 22,000. Due to such a high total increase, many brands below are shown as a minus when sales were actually up but the y lost market share.
Toyota is comfortably ahead, with VW narrowing the gap between them. Some Chinese brands have taken the plunge but it's too early to tell how far they go.
Data source: Auto Asociacija. Photos: Toyota (bZ4X) & Peugeot (5008).
BYD arrived during 2023 and MG during 2024 and while both have settled in OK, Chinese brands are not prominent. Nevertheless, BYD was up 27% this year and MG was up 257%.
Toyota as the leading brand has three of the top seven places. Škoda as the number two marque in the overall standings is likewise well represented. The Dacia Duster (picture above) is the sixth most popular model. Below is the Nissan Qashqai in tenth place.
As this is passenger cars only, it is unusual to have models like the Renault Trafic on the list but it also has more vehicles not shown here but counted as light commercials. That's not usual so perhaps they are vans with seats and sold as an MPV.
Data source: Auto Asociacija.
Latvia car and light commercial sales are as below. Toyota has led since 2020 and is still well clear although it did suffer slightly in 2024. Škoda has moved into second but parent company VW is coming back. It was the leader until 2019. Renault had a strong increase but has some distance to make up on third place.
Data source: Auto Asociacija.
Škoda dramatically took the lead off Toyota as the best selling brand. They also knocked the two Toyota models at the top of the 2023 off the leaderboard and replaced them with their own top two. Will Toyota respond in 2025?
I wanted to put one of the top Škodas as the photograph above but they weren't very good so Toyota's more natural picture of the RAV4 was chosen. It was top last year. Some of the pictures on car company websites are ordinary.
The VW Tiguan came in fifth, up ten places and the picture had a natural appearance so it's below the list. Renault did well with the Captur and Clio, plus Citroën with the Berlingo. Some of the changes from last year are extreme but fewer sales will more likely generate that outcome.
Data source: Transpordiamet.
Registrations were up 57% in December 2023 but amazingly they were up 105% for December 2024. As you can imagine, December is now a big month for car sales here. After a poor start to the 2024 year, a late rush got it finally to a 12% increase. A tax being implemented in 2025 is the reason.
Toyota has lost what appeared to be its inevitable lead which it has enjoyed for most of this century. Škoda has taken that now but will it maintain it? VW had an impressive 2024 and is now third. Audi got up to third last year but it seems that wasn't sustainable.
A big shout out to the agency that releases this data. Sales statistics are hard to come by which is a shame as there is clearly a demand from the public to see it.
The 'Diff' column shows market share change. Data source: Transpordiamet.
Toyota is the top brand here and it shows in the chart. The Corolla took the top spot in 2020 and has held it since. It was down in 2024 but still well ahead. Before that it was the Škoda Octavia and the year before the Nissan Qashqai (picture above). They are curently sixth and seventh.
The Yaris cross moved up to second and Tesla's model Y fell back as a result. Overall European brands are the most common but Korean ones do well too.
Data source: Traficom.
Registrations were up 9% in December but down 16% for the complete year so a solid end to a depressed market. The data below compares market share, not sales volume movement. The winner here is Toyota, a brand that has put emphasis on rallying in a country that loves that type of motor sport. Toyota currently accounts for nearly one in five passenger cars sold here.
Tesla did a belly flop as did Peugeot and Opel. BYD has arrived so we will see how that progresses as it builds its dreams. MG timed its arrival poorly as Chinese electric vehicles now meet tariffs in Europe. Of course, all vehicles going to China are hit with import duty so nothing to see here.
Data source: Tilastokeskus.
The top two models were from Toyota, followed by two from Škoda. Audi then had a couple with a Kia between them. Some of the movements here are extreme as evidenced by the percentage figures. There are some other unique things about the list as well shall discover.
First, all eight of the models Škoda sells here made the top 50, despite it not being the best selling brand. Second, Audi is usually the third German Premium marque or maybe has parity, but not here. While BMW and Mercedes-Benz do not have a single model on the list here, Audi has no fewer than eight! Third, there is only US model here, the next is back in 82nd place.
Data source: Transpordiamet.
Data source: Trafi.
