Ford F-Series tops world's 50 best-sellers

Figures collated by global industry statistician Jato Dynamics have revealed the Ford F-Series continues to be the world's largest selling vehicle, with 534,827 units finding new homes during the first six months of 2018.

In an article published overnight by UK magazine, Autocar, the Ford pick-up was over 56,000 sales clear of the runner-up, the Toyota Corolla (total sales of 478,122). Third place was held by the Volkswagen Golf, over 46,000 sales behind the Corolla (431,836).

In some respects the Jato data reflects the situation in Australia – except it takes two pick-ups (only one of which happens to be a Ford, the Ranger) to take out the top rung(s) of the ladder. Interestingly, the Ranger doesn't appear in the top 50 cars for the rest of the world.

The Corolla is third here, rather than second, and Australians choose another small car from a different brand – the Mazda3 – over the Volkswagen Golf.

And even beyond the top three or four, there are some further parallels: Honda Civic (4th in the world) is similar in packaging terms to the Hyundai i30 (5th here). Toyota RAV4 (5th in the world) is a mid-size SUV here, competing with the Mazda CX-5 (6th in Australia).

But other than the similarity of packaging and function, there's very little in common between the popular models around the rest of the world and our favourites here. Our top-selling vehicle for the first half of 2018 is the Toyota HiLux, but the rest of the world rates the HiLux at 39th position for sales.

The world's top 50 vehicles reflect the emergence of the Chinese automotive market as a major player. Some of the cars in the top 50 bear names that are meaningless to Australians, but must be a big deal in China. These include a couple of joint-venture models: the Volkswagen Sagitar (a Chinese-market Jetta) and the Volkswagen Lavida. The Haval H6 makes it into the charts at 26th spot; the Nissan Sylphy (known as the Almera here) sits in 28th position, due to its popularity in China, and is just above the Baojun 510 at number 29. But the most popular Chinese vehicle is the Wuling Hongguang at number 19. For the first six months of this year, the Chinese SUV has sold more than Toyota's total sales in Australia for 2017.

A couple of vehicles – the Dacia Sandero and Ford EcoSport – sell in relatively large numbers because they're built down to a price and are aimed at buyers in more populous nations.

One of Australia's most popular models – the Mazda3, which is in fourth place on the local ladder – doesn't event rate a mention in the rest of the world's rankings until number 38.

Mazda is a particularly unusual case in this exercise. The Japanese brand has been very popular in Australia, selling to nearly 10 per cent of local new-car buyers last year. In many other markets around the world the brand has traditionally struggled to achieve two per cent. Even in its home market Mazda's share was only around five per cent. When Holden was working on pre-launch activities for the Equinox, one US-based GM executive couldn't understand why the locals insisted on spec-adjusted comparison of the mid-size SUV with the Mazda CX-5. Even after the GM exec was told that the CX-5 was the strongest-selling model in its segment, that just raised more questions than it answered.

Another telling point is the relative popularity of larger commercial vehicles – the Ford F-Series, the Chevrolet Silverado and the RAM 1500. These vehicles are available in Australia, through vehicle-modifying firms, but the final price of these converted vehicles is usually prohibitive and is holding back sales here.

The two data sets reveal very different buying habits (by brand and model) that separate Australia from the rest of the world, which is massively influenced by big markets like China and the USA.

Here's how the two data sets stacked up for the year to date
1. Ford F-Series – 534,827 sales around the world
1. Toyota HiLux – 26,402 sales in Australia

2. Toyota Corolla – 478,122 sales around the world
2. Ford Ranger – 22,106 sales in Australia

3. Volkswagen Golf – 431,836 sales around the world
3. Toyota Corolla – 19,143 sales in Australia

4. Honda Civic – 412,664 sales around the world
4. Mazda3 – 17,090 sales in Australia

5. Toyota RAV4 – 395,816 sales around the world
5. Hyundai i30 – 14,980 sales in Australia

6. Nissan X-TRAIL – 392,489 sales around the world
6. Mazda CX-5 – 13,847 sales in Australia

7. Volkswagen Passat – 356,566 sales around the world
7. Mitsubishi Triton – 13,815 sales in Australia

8. Honda CR-V – 339,081 sales around the world
8. Toyota RAV4 – 11,770 sales in Australia

9. Honda HR-V – 334,917 sales around the world
9. Nissan X-TRAIL – 10,524 sales in Australia

10. Chevrolet Silverado – 326,427 sales around the world
10. Volkswagen Golf – 10,479 sales in Australia

11. Toyota Camry – 313,394 sales around the world
11. Hyundai Tucson – 10,280 sales in Australia

12. Nissan Qashqai – 313,149 sales around the world
12. Kia Cerato – 10,232 sales in Australia

13. Volkswagen Polo – 312,677 sales around the world
13. Mitsubishi ASX – 9899 sales in Australia

14. Ford Kuga/Escape – 299,410 sales around the world
14. Holden Colorado – 9633 sales in Australia

15. RAM – 1500 – 290,125 sales around the world
15. Toyota Prado – 9268 sales in Australia

16. Hyundai Elantra – 287,492 sales around the world
16. Honda CR-V – 9042 sales in Australia

17. Ford Focus – 270,183 sales around the world
17. Isuzu Ute D-MAX – 8905 sales in Australia

18. Hyundai Tucson – 260,601 sales around the world
18. Mazda CX-3 – 8815 sales in Australia

19. Wuling Hongguang – 245,137 sales around the world
19. Nissan Navara – 8422 sales in Australia

20. Mercedes-Benz C-Class – 244,377 sales around the world
20. Hyundai Accent – 8363 sales in Australia

21. Mazda CX-5 – 239,450 sales around the world
21. Mitsubishi Outlander – 8154 sales in Australia

22. Volkswagen Jetta/Sagitar – 227,516 sales around the world
22. Honda Civic – 7669 sales in Australia

23. Honda Accord – 224,121 sales around the world
23. Toyota Kluger – 7552 sales in Australia

24. Kia Sportage – 222,108 sales around the world
24. Toyota Camry – 7496 sales in Australia

25. Volkswagen Lavida – 221,248 sales around the world
25. Subaru XV – 7330 sales in Australia

26. Haval H6 – 220,653 sales around the world
26. Kia Sportage – 7298 sales in Australia

27. Subaru Impreza/XV – 217,467 sales around the world
27. Toyota LandCruiser 200 Series – 7277 sales in Australia

28. Nissan Sylphy – 217,259 sales around the world
28. Nissan Qashqai – 7213 sales in Australia

29. Baojun – 510 – 216,742 sales around the world
29. Mazda BT-50 – 7127 sales in Australia

30. Ford Fiesta – 215,157 sales around the world
30. Honda HR-V – 6763 sales in Australia

31. Chevrolet Equinox – 215,030 sales around the world
31. Hyundai Kona – 6303 sales in Australia

32. Renault Clio – 214,675 sales around the world
32. Mazda2 – 5764 sales in Australia

33. Jeep Compass – 213,543 sales around the world
33. Subaru Outback – 5690 sales in Australia

34. Honda Jazz – 212,195 sales around the world
34. Volkswagen Tiguan – 5584 sales in Australia

35. Volkswagen Tiguan – 208,813 sales around the world
35. Holden Commodore – 5384 sales in Australia

36. Mercedes-Benz E-Class – 208,797 sales around the world
36. Subaru Forester – 5191 sales in Australia

37. Skoda Octavia – 202,559 sales around the world
37. Subaru Impreza – 5171 sales in Australia

38. Mazda 3 – 202,424 sales around the world
38. Toyota Landcruiser PU/CC – 5140 sales in Australia

39. Toyota Hilux – 202,132 sales around the world
39. Toyota Yaris – 4885 sales in Australia

40. Dacia Sandero – 201,558 sales around the world
40. Volkswagen Amarok – 4664 sales in Australia

41. Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace – 201,437 sales around the world
41. Toyota C-HR – 4597 sales in Australia

42. Mercedes-Benz GLC – 199,937 sales around the world
42. Holden Astra – 4498 sales in Australia

43. Suzuki Swift – 190,213 sales around the world
43. Isuzu Ute MU-X – 4385 sales in Australia

44. Audi A4 – 189,684 sales around the world
44. Mazda CX-9 – 4377 sales in Australia

45. BMW 3 Series – 188,634 sales around the world
45. Suzuki Swift – 4364 sales in Australia

46. BMW 5 Series – 186,298 sales around the world
46. Honda Jazz – 4165 sales in Australia

47. Toyota Highlander – 180,687 sales around the world
47. Kia Rio – 3654 sales in Australia

48. Toyota Yaris – 176,177 sales around the world
48. Hyundai Santa Fe – 3596 sales in Australia

49. Kia Cerato – 172,830 sales around the world
49. Toyota Hiace Van – 3408 sales in Australia

50. Ford Ecosport – 166,164 sales around the world
50. Mitsubishi Pajero Sport – 3399 sales in Australia