4 – Volkswagen Beetle – 23.5 million
If there’s a car that needs no introduction… this is it. The Beetle breathed its first back in 1938, and despite its early origins associated with the Nazi regime in Germany, it became the ultimate people’s car in the years after World War Two.
A caveat about this model, of course, is that at the moment the original Beetle ceased production in the early 2000s, the sales total for the car sat at 21.5 million units globally. Then came the New Beetle, then the current Beetle (A5), which is the model bidding farewell after this year.
1938 Volkswagen Beetle prototype | Photo: Volkswagen
2018 Volkswagen Beetle | Photo: D.Boshouwers