Toyota models appeared 56 times in the top 10 rankings of 30 European markets through 1 month. That is up from 54 placements after 12 months of 2022.
Toyota’s success was led by the Yaris and Yaris Cross, which had a combined 28 placements in January, according to market researcher Dataforce.
The Japanese automaker was consistently in the 50s much of the last year and appears poised to continue that trend in 2023.
Skoda started the year in second place with 34 top 10s, followed by sister brand VW with 33 placements.
Volkswagen finished 2022 in second place with 37 top 10s, followed by Skoda’s 31 placements.
Kia and Dacia were locked in a tight battle all last year that the Kia ended up winning 27 to 26 after 12 months.
So far in 2023, Dacia leads Kia 27 to 22.
Hyundai had 19 appearances in top 10s while Peugeot had 17, according to Dataforce’s figures.
When it comes to the vehicles with the most placements, the Yaris Cross led the way with 15 placements, followed by the Yaris with 13.
Tied for third place were the Dacia Duster and Kia Sportage with 12 placements each in January.
That left last year’s No. 1 car, the Skoda Octavia, in a tie for fifth place with the VW T-Roc at 10 placements each
It’s also worth noting that Volvo has 12 placements in the top 10s led by six appearance by the XC40 compact SUV. By comparison BMW had nine placements while Audi and Mercedes-Benz each had five.