List of best-selling automobiles

Since the introduction of the Benz Patent Motorwagen in 1886, some passenger cars and light trucks can claim to being the highest selling vehicles in the automobile markets.
While references to verify the manufacturers' claims have been included, there is always the possibility of inaccuracy or hyperbole. A single vehicle can be sold concurrently under several nameplates in different markets, as with, for example, the Nissan Sunny; in such circumstances, manufacturers often provide only cumulative units sold figures for all models. As a result, there is no definitive standard for measuring units sold; Chrysler minivans has sold over 16 million worldwide, while Volkswagen has claimed its Beetle is the best-selling car in history, as it did not substantially change throughout its production run. By contrast, Toyota has applied the Corolla nameplate to 12 generations since 1966, which have sold over 50 million through 2021.

World's bestsellers

Three cars have been widely acknowledged as the "bestselling automobile in the world" since Ford built its millionth Model T on December 10, 1915. The Model T itself remained the highest seller until forty five years after production ceased in 1927. On February 17, 1972 Volkswagen claimed that the Ford had been surpassed by the Beetle, when the 15,007,034th was manufactured. Although the Model T has subsequently been credited with 16.5 million units sold, the error is inconsequential in light of the Beetle reaching 21 million. The Model T was eventually surpassed within Ford by the Ford F-Series, a pickup truck that is directly descended from the Model T roadster pickup.
The Beetle remained the bestselling vehicle in the car industry until the late 1990s, when it was overtaken by the more modern and efficient Toyota Corolla. However, this was an example of the modern practice of applying a brand name across a wide range of vehicles, and retaining it for marketing purposes even as the car changes drastically. While the first Corolla in 1966 was rear-wheel drive and rode on a 2286 mm wheelbase, the current hybrid and all-wheel drive models share a 2640 mm wheelbase and use a mechanically unrelated platform. Sales of the Beetle were also surpassed by its successor nameplate, the Volkswagen Golf.

Image	Automobile	Production	Units sold	Notes
	Ford Model T	1908–1927	16,500,000	The first car to achieve one million, five million, ten million and fifteen million units sold. In 1914, it was estimated that nine out of every ten cars in the world were Fords.
	Volkswagen Beetle	1938–2003	21,529,464	The first car to achieve twenty million units sold.
	Toyota Corolla	1966–present	50,000,000 by 2021	The 50 million milestone was reached in 2021. However, the nameplate has been applied on twelve different generations of car.