Best selling car of all time is...

[Gob]

It'll never stir the passions like a Ferrari and you won't see its picture adorning the bedroom wall of the average adolescent teenage boy.

But the venerable Toyota Corolla has overtaken Fords F-series truck to become the best selling vehicle of all time.The ultra-reliable, if perhaps rather dull, Japanese runaround has clocked up global sales of around 37.5 million since it was first rolled out in 1966.

STREETS AHEAD: THE WORLD'S TOP TEN BEST SELLING CARS

Toyota Corolla (1966 - present )
Sales: 37.5 million

Ford F-Series (1948 - present )
Sales: 35 million

Volkswagen Golf (1974 - present )
Sales: 27.5 million

Volkswagen Beetle (1933 - 2003)
Sales: 23.5 million

Ford Escort (1968 - 2000)
Sales: 20 million

Honda Civic (1972 - present )
Sales: 18.5 million

Honda Accord (1976 - present)
Sales: 17.5 million

Ford Model T (1908 - 1927)
Sales: 16.5 million

Volkswagen Passat (1973 - present)
Sales: 15.5 million

Chevy Impala (1958 – present)
Sales: 14 million

With its winning recipe of value-for-money, thrifty gas mileage and a huge dealer network, a Corolla has been sold on average once every 40 seconds for the past 40 years. Now into its tenth generation Corollas are manufactured in Japan, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and Venezuela. However production in the US, based in Fremont, California, ended in March 2010.

Sales of the car really took off during the 1970s oil crisis as its frugal four cylinder engine offered great mileage, a feature that continues to add to its popularity today. It's success brings to an end an impressive 24 year run by Ford's F-series pick-up truck which, with sales of over 35 million, now pulls over into second place. In third place is the Volkswagen Golf having notched up sales of 27.5 million. VW's Beetle comes in at fourth with 23.5 million sold and Ford's Escort which has sold 20 million, is in fifth.

Despite only being in eighth place over all in terms of total sales many experts still rate the Ford Model T as the most successful car ever. Nearly 17 million cars were produced between 1908 and 1927 - a period when car ownership was far less widespread than it is today.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1lAhuAv55

[dales]

Their sales took off here in California during the 1970's.

Der Kafer was no longer competitive and the crap that came out of Detroit was a joke.

[Jarlaxle]

I hope that I will be able to say this forever: I have never owned and have no plans to ever own a Corolla.

[BoSoxGal]

I learned to drive manual on a HS friend's Corolla. I would love to own that 1966 model!

I'll probably never own a Corolla, but only because my next Toyota will be another Rav, a Highlander, or a Tundra.

[Crackpot]

No you wouldn't early Carollas were crap

[dales]

And you know this how?

[Crackpot]

Japans Quality didn't get good till the mid to late 70's (when ours was hitting the Shitter) there was a good reason it took so long for them to gain traction in the US and it wasn't just because of the war.

[dales]

That's an opinion - based on what?

[Crackpot]

Information gleaned from my years in the auto industry.

[dales]

Other than than your own observations - do you have any actual data?

If the Toyota Corolla was a poor quality automobile, why did they sell so well?

Admittedly there are very few pre-1970 examples to glean any meaningful data (even in CA) but they did sell and their sales continued to climb well into the first decade of the 21st century. Hence the title. A poor quality car automobile would have never come close to matching their sales numbers. Remember the Yugo?

[Guinevere]

I hope that I will be able to say this forever: I have never owned and have no plans to ever own a Corolla.

Same here.

[Rick]

Japans Quality didn't get good till the mid to late 70's (when ours was hitting the Shitter) there was a good reason it took so long for them to gain traction in the US and it wasn't just because of the war.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the quality of their vehicles.

Americans were used to large vehicles Japanese vehicles were much smaller...

[Sue U]

I hope that I will be able to say this forever: I have never owned and have no plans to ever own a Corolla.

Same here.

I have owned four of the vehicles on that list, including the Corolla (1986). (Others were the Civic, Passat and Impala.) I have to say, I felt all were well made and I had no problems with any of them that I could attribute to basic quality of the vehicle. Now the '82 Dodge Aries, on the other hand ....

[Jarlaxle]

And you know this how?

Everything from Japan rotted to powder until about 1990.

[dales]

That's why so many people purchased Japanese cars, right?

[Crackpot]

He's about a decade late. THe thing is the Japanese learned from their mistakes and their successes and made better cars as a result the US OTOH was still trying to re-invent the wheel each go round until the late 90's.

[Jarlaxle]

Pickups were the worst...Toyota trucks were rotboxes until 1994 (last pre-Tacoma). Hell, some Nissans still are! A late-model Civic with rusty quarters, rockers, or floors is a common sight.

My father in law had a Toyota pickkup...it had never seen snow, rarely even saw RAIN until he bought it (desert truck)...yet the tailgate rotted off (literally), the box sides were going at the body lines, the cab corners were starting to go. He now has an old FJ-80 Land Cruiser (which is powered by, I must point out, a carbon copy of a Chevy engine)...it will need a couple of floor patches, one quarter panel, and probably a ricker soon.

My old Jeep J-20 was a contemporary of his Toy pickup...it spent its entire life in New England (and had been a plow truck since new to boot!), and had less rust than his desert Toyota.

My "Honda is God" sister had three...1983 Civic, 1987 Accord, 1991 Civic. The Accord was starting to rust out (floors) when the motor let go. (What a shitbox that car was...) Both Civics rotted to powder. The 83 actually had one of the subframe mounts break off (!). The 1991 had the quarters & rockers rot out. (It also had a FEROCIOUS appetite for brakes, for some reason.)

[Jarlaxle]

I have owned four of the vehicles on that list, including the Corolla (1986). (Others were the Civic, Passat and Impala.) I have to say, I felt all were well made and I had no problems with any of them that I could attribute to basic quality of the vehicle. Now the '82 Dodge Aries, on the other hand ....

Counting a Chevy Caprice under "Impalas", I have had six examples of three different vehicles on that list:
1984 Ford Escort L, diesel, 5-door hatch, brown over tan...50MPG, I still kick myself for selling that car. Easiest front end I have ever seen to service...can do a full rebuild in an hour and a half. It's still going, close to 350,000 miles.

1986 Chevy Caprice, 2-door coupe, white with red top over red velour...got it for free. It was an odd duck, with the EFI V6 (V8's were carbuerated), 3-speed automatic (V8's had overdrive), power windows & locks, and A/C (still blowing cold on the factory R-12!). Sold to someone who wanted a project...he redid the body (wasn't rotted, but man was it ugly) and is putting together a drivetrain for it.
1995 Chevy Caprice Estate wagon, 265HP LT1 350, pewter & woodgrain over maroon...bought cheap with a blown transmission. Drove it 2 years, sold when I got my Magnum. Buyer's now ex-girlfriend took it to work (without asking) and got punted into a ditch by a drunk driver.
1995 Chevy Capriec Classic wagon, 265HP LT1 350, white over blue...a true "old lady" car, came with the original window sticker and service records dating to 1999. Sold recently to same guy who bought the first one. He first promised to not let his girlfriend drive it.

1992 Ford F-350 4x4, 7.3 litre turbo diesel and 5-speed, battleship gray over gray, a bare-bones Custom with vinyl seats, no carpet, and originally no radio, former construction foreman's truck, with 8' Fisher snowplow. Bought with 298,000 miles...absolutely stone-reliable. Got the bed replaced by a Reading utility body after getting hit...sold with 366,000 miles. The buyer (a contractor) is still using it, probably close to 400,000 miles by now.
1979 Ford F-350 *deep breath* 4x4 SuperCab XLT Ranger Camper Special *pant, pant, pant*, originally had a 400 V8, now powered by a 5.9 litre Cummins diesel, red over black. 4-speed manual with Gear Vendors overdrive, the perfect truck. Ford's best truck (the tough-as-nails 1977.5-79 F-350) with the best pickup truck engine (the Cummins diesel).

[dales]

wow, just wow

[Liberty1]

Pickups were the worst...Toyota trucks were rotboxes until 1994 (last pre-Tacoma). Hell, some Nissans still are! A late-model Civic with rusty quarters, rockers, or floors is a common sight

Beg to differ. I have a 98 Frontier with not one spot of rust. I also had a 86 Mazda truck until I got the Nissan, that never had a spot of rust and my dad had an 85, same story.


Now my 74 Bornco on the other hand..............