Now that the year is half-way through, the European automotive industry traditionally issues its report on the last six months. We also dug out our abacus to put together the most popular new models of the moment in a handy list. Will the current favourite, the VW Golf, stand its ground or will it have to deal with being a runner-up? Discover the full top-20 list here!

Car sales are doing well again in Europe. The number of registrations increased in the first six months of 2016 by 9.1 per cent (as compared with the first six months of 2015) to 8.09 million vehicles, the highest number since the start of the financial crisis in 2008. Countries such as Italy and Spain are seeing the greatest progress and trailing behind at the bottom of the country classification is the United Kingdom (thanks to Brexit troubles) and...Germany. This comes as a surprise but this is certainly not the last...

A second notable finding is that a lot of the mass producers, such as Ford, Peugeot, Nissan and--perhaps less surprisingly--Volkswagen, are losing market share. The automotive giant from Wolfsburg not only has to face damage to its image in the wake of the Dieselgate scandal but also a lot more competition in the C segment (which has been dominated for many years by the Golf). 

Among the risers, the intermediate growth spurt by Renault is to be noted, with a growth of more than 15 per cent. This growth can largely be attributed to the numerous innovations in the range, including the Mégane and Talisman, while the Clio and Captur are still popular among European car buyers. Fiat also has cause for celebration right now, even though there, the growth is practically entirely attributable to the outstanding sales figures from its home country, Italy. Within the Fiat range, two models stand out as the leaders: the 500X and--surprisingly--the now 5-year old Panda.

Much less of a surprise is the fact that the German premium makes Audi, BMW and Mercedes are still gaining ground in Europe. A major shift can also be noted in the internal hierarchy, now that Mercedes Benz has leapfrogged over its eternal Bavarian rival. The South Koreans from Kia and Hyundai are also in the black, as are Mazda, Land Rover, Honda, Jeep, Jaguar, Ssangyong, Abarth and Infiniti.

The SUV boom continues
In the individual model classification, SUVs are shooting up to the top of the rankings. In absolute figures, the Volkswagen Golf does continue to be the best-seller, but with a loss of 2%, their statistics pale in comparison with the double-digit figures of SUVs such as the Renault Captur, the Peugeot 2008 and the Fiat 500X. Within the SUV segment, we also see a shift from the C segment towards the somewhat smaller models from the B segment, now good for 38.2 per cent of total SUV sales. In the luxury SUVs, Volvo leads the ranking along with the German makes. Countries in which SUVs are showing the most progress are Cyprus, Ireland, Croatia, Hungary, and the United Kingdom.
Here you can find the top 20, ranked by model: