Below, we present seven cars that were resounding commercial successes, models that, in a short time, achieved impressive sales figures.
As with any product, launching a car on the market means playing a card. There are two options: succeed or fail. And automotive history is littered with examples from both sides of the scale. Today we stay with the positive and we show you seven cars that were a commercial success.
As they say colloquially, there are cars that landed on their feet, either because they arrived at the right time, because of their mechanical reliability, because of their excellent value for money, or because it was something completely different from what existed before.
7 cars that were a commercial success:
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang was not the first muscle car in history, but it was the model that popularized this class of American sports cars with large displacement V8 engines.
The Mustang hit the market in 1964 and, in its first year on the market, sold a total of 417,000 units. Two years later, in 1966, it reached one million registered copies. Without a doubt, it was a commercial success.
Toyota Corolla
The Corolla is the best-selling car in the entire history of the automobile, with no less than 50 million units.
The first generation appeared in 1966 to compete directly with the Datsun 1000. It was offered with four body types (as it is today): a four-door sedan, a two-door sedan, a coupe, and a station wagon.
Ford Fiesta
One of the cars that was an unparalleled commercial success was the Ford Fiesta, a very important model for Spain and for many Valencian families since it was in charge of inaugurating the Ford plant in Almussafes, back in 1976.
Unfortunately, last year Ford announced the end of life of this iconic model which, in its first generation, reached one million units produced in 1979, only three years after its launch. Since then, it has accumulated more than 18 million units sold.
Renault 5
The Renault 5 was a revolutionary model when it was launched on the market in 1972. It is considered the first hatchback type car in history and was the first to install plastic bumpers to improve safety in the event of a collision, a solution that was later used by the rest of the manufacturers.
As soon as it hit the market, the R5 was resoundingly successful and, by the end of its production in 1984, it reached 5.5 million units sold.
That same year, the R5 was replaced by the Renault Supercinco, inspired by the design of the original, and managed to market more than two million units until its final withdrawal in 1991.
Peugeot 205
Another Frenchman that was a resounding success in sales was the Peugeot 205. This model saved the French brand from a difficult situation at the beginning of the 80s, after a difficult decade of the 70s.
Peugeot was going through bad economic times and needed a model that would boost the company's sales. That was the 205, a car that throughout the 80s occupied the top positions in the sales rankings. The last unit left the factory in 1998 when it accumulated 5.2 million units produced.
Nissan Qashqai
The Qashqai could not be missing from this list, the main person responsible for the high demand for SUVs today. Although it was not the model that invented this category, it was the one that popularized it. From the Qashqai, nothing was the same.
The father of this model was Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan from the early 2000s until a few years ago. Surely neither he nor anyone at the Japanese brand imagined the success that the Qashqai would have.
In less than a year since its launch, the Japanese SUV has sold more than 100,000 units. Such was the success that Nissan was forced to increase production at its Sunderland factory by 20% to meet demand.
Citroen Xsara
We end this list of seven cars that were a commercial success with the Citroën Xsara, the great bestseller of the 21st century 'made in Spain'. Manufactured in the Madrid and Vigo plants, it marked an important milestone in the history of the French brand in Spain, by becoming the first model to conquer the leadership of the passenger car market between 2000 and 2003.
It was a compact sedan that stood out for its safety, versatility, and comfort equipment, in an elegant "two and a half volumes" body. A total of 1,343,000 units were sold between the bodies of three and five doors, although it was also available in a family version.
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