# Best selling car of all time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 8, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-selling-car-of-all-time/320649 "2005-09-08T13:46:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-selling-car-of-all-time/320649/1 "2005-09-08T13:46:39Z")
Last night on some game show that my mother was watching, they asked what was the best selling car of all time (in the US). I got a phone call and didn’t hear the answer. My guess was the VW bug. Anyone know for sure? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-selling-car-of-all-time/320649/2 "2005-09-08T14:13:01Z")
I can’t find the cite just yet, but I read recently that the Toyota Celica recently passed the Bug as the most manufactured car in history. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-selling-car-of-all-time/320649/3 "2005-09-08T14:15:27Z")
Correction. [Corolla](http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=94136). ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-selling-car-of-all-time/320649/4 "2005-09-08T14:56:12Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I can’t find the cite just yet, but I read recently that the Toyota [Corolla] recently passed the Bug as the most manufactured car in history. It hardly seems fair to count this, though. The Beetle was the same design throughout it’s entire history. Some motor variation, transmission variation, curved windshield, different running lights, and so on, but it was the same car made with the same parts with the same basic tooling all those years without significant engineering changes. The Corolla of 2003 isn’t the same as the Corolla of 1973, but the Beetle of 2003 _is_. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-selling-car-of-all-time/320649/5 "2005-09-08T14:57:31Z")
It is fair. The Beetle has changed significantly over its lifespan. The 1955 Bug is a whole-nother creature from the 2003 model. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-selling-car-of-all-time/320649/6 "2005-09-08T15:55:07Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > It is fair. The Beetle has changed significantly over its lifespan. The 1955 Bug is a whole-nother creature from the 2003 model. Didn’t VW continue to make the ORIGINAL Beetle until the new century? from [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Beetle): > [@](#): > > The Volkswagen Beetle or Bug or Käfer is a small family car, the best known car of Volkswagen, of Germany, and almost certainly the world. Thanks to its distinctive shape and sound, and its reliability, it now enjoys a “cult” status. > > The Beetle was in production from 1938 until 2003, interrupted only by the Second World War. Over 21 million Beetles were produced. and > [@](#): > > Beetle production continued in smaller numbers at other German factories until 1978, but mainstream production shifted to Brazil and Mexico. **The last Beetle was produced in Puebla, Mexico, in mid-2003.** The final batch of 3,000 Beetles were sold as 2004 models and badged as the Última Edición, with whitewall tires, a host of previously-discontinued chrome trim, and the choice of two special paint colors taken from the New Beetle. _(emphasis mine)_ ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-selling-car-of-all-time/320649/7 "2005-09-08T15:55:19Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > It is fair. The Beetle has changed significantly over its lifespan. The 1955 Bug is a whole-nother creature from the 2003 model. Oops… I should have been clear. I don’t mean “The New Beetle” but the penultimate model year Beetle-Bug, the rear-engine, air cooled one. It’s basically the same as a 1955 Bug. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-selling-car-of-all-time/320649/8 "2005-09-08T16:24:22Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Oops… I should have been clear. I don’t mean “The New Beetle” but the penultimate model year Beetle-Bug, the rear-engine, air cooled one. It’s basically the same as a 1955 Bug. The last year for the “original Bug” was 2003, in Mexico as posted above. While there were significant changes between 1953 and 2003, I still think of them as pretty much the same car. That can’t be said for the Corolla. Another long run without many changes was the Model T Ford. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-selling-car-of-all-time/320649/9 "2005-09-08T16:31:15Z")
Ah, but that wasn’t what the OP asked. You are correct as to the Bug being the largest selling unchanged model. That was always my feeling as well. But going only by name, the Corolla wins. Different definitions, different results. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bobk2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@bobk2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobk2)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-selling-car-of-all-time/320649/10 "2005-09-08T16:36:31Z")
At the risk of obfusticating, what’s the definition of ‘Best Selling’? This thread seems to interpret that as ‘total number cars manufactured’ but couldn’t it also be something like ‘highest market share in a given year’ ? ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-selling-car-of-all-time/320649/11 "2005-09-08T17:15:27Z")
The Model T Ford, as I recall, sold 15 million units. Basically unchanged mechanically over its lifespan. Unlike the Corolla; Toyota’s claim is a sham. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-selling-car-of-all-time/320649/12 "2005-09-08T17:22:25Z")
[This article](http://www.prweb.com/releases/20056/5/prwebxml241801.php) says that the bestselling vehicle of all time is the Ford F-150 pickup truck. It crushes all competition at 30 million sold. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-selling-car-of-all-time/320649/13 "2005-09-08T17:25:44Z")
Actually, that article says the _F-Series_, not just the F-150. Using an entire series is cheating in my book. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-selling-car-of-all-time/320649/14 "2005-09-08T17:38:55Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Actually, that article says the _F-Series_, not just the F-150. Using an entire series is cheating in my book. 😃 You are right. It did use confusing language switching between “F-150” and “F series”. [This Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:VW_Golf) article however, still mentions the F-150 as the best selling of all time. If the OP intended “car” literally then it doesn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-selling-car-of-all-time/320649/15 "2005-09-08T17:50:29Z")
Slight hijack: VW has a huge facility just outside of Puebla that is a major local employer. They even sponsor street signs downtown & there’s a big ol’ VW logo on the soccer team’s jerseys, seeing as they sponsor that too. Most of the taxis in Mexico City (Puebla is about an hour from Mexico) as well as other parts of the country are green and white VW bugs.