What were the top 10 best-selling models worldwide in 2021?

Last year was a tricky one for the automotive industry, with manufacturers around the world struggling with supply constraints due to semiconductor shortages and illness within the workforce.

While sales were down compared to 'normal' years in most countries, some were able to take advantage of other's misfortunes and move up the sales charts.

In a list compiled by Car Industry Analysis, the Toyota RAV4 (or Wildlander as it's known in China) beat its Corolla sedan stablemate to the top spot with 1,132,000 units shifted last year – a six per cent increase over the year prior.

Locally, the RAV4 was third on the Australian sales charts, behind only the HiLux and Ford Ranger utes with 35,751 units sold – as Toyota claimed just under three in four examples of the crossover SUVs delivered were hybrids.

Just as it was internationally, the Corolla sat behind its RAV4 sibling in the local rankings, managing 28,768 sales over the 12-month period, although it's worth noting these sales were for the combined hatch and sedan – rather than the global list, which focuses on the four-door only.

The first car to miss the one million unit mark last year was the third-placed Honda CR-V, with the 903,000 sold globally representing a three per cent increase over 2020's sales figures – although Australian sales dropped by 27.8 per cent, with 6875 cars shifted throughout 2021.

4

Toyota's RAV4 was the best-selling car globally last year, improving on its position as Australia's most popular passenger vehicle

Despite its popularity growing by eight per cent internationally, with a total of 681,000 sales to put it fifth on the list behind the Nissan Sentra (a model not available in Australia), the Toyota Camry was only sixth-best amongst the manufacturer's local offerings, dropping behind the aforementioned HiLux, RAV4 and Corolla – as well as the Prado and LandCruiser wagon.

Honda's second entry on the global charts came in the form of its smaller HR-V crossover, with sales growing by 20 per cent to 670,000 units across the globe.

As with its CR-V sibling, the HR-V missed out on a top 10 appearance in Australia, although its 6069 sales made it the brand's second-most popular model, just under 800 units behind the larger offering.

4

While local buyers will have to wait for the F-150 to come to Australia, Ford's popular pick-up was the highest non-Japanese offering listed

While the Ford F-150 pick-up truck is only available in the North American market (for now), its success in the United States means it sits in seventh overall – a drop of one place over 2020, although it could have fallen further had Ford not prioritised it amidst semiconductor shortages.

Behind it was the Toyota HiLux – Australia's best-selling model – accounting for just under 10 per cent of global sales, with the 52,801 units sold Down Under pushing the ute up to eighth overall from 13th in 2020.

4

Tesla's Model 3 not only confirmed its status as Australia's most popular EV, but the electric sedan was eighth on the worldwide list

For the first time ever, an electric vehicle made it into the top 10, as the Tesla Model 3 cemented its status as the most popular EV around the world – and in Australia – with a staggering 508,000 units sold, coming from just two plants in Freemont, California, and Shanghai, China.

Closing out the rankings were Honda's Accord (481,000 sales) and the Civic sedan (467,000 sales) – the latter of which saw the introduction of its 11th generation halfway through the year en route to 2950 deliveries in Australia, while the Accord recorded just 90 local sales.

Looking through the extended top 110 list compiled by Car Industry Analysis to find where other top 10 Australian models ended up, the Hyundai i30 (fifth locally) missed out completely, as did the Toyota Prado (eighth), Mitsubishi Triton (ninth) and MG ZS (tenth).

Australia's two other leading utes in the Ford Ranger (second locally) and Isuzu D-Max (sixth locally) managed to both sneak into to top 40 global rankings, placing 23rd and 39th respectively.