Belgium Top 4 Brands : 1980-89

The Ford Escort was popular in Belgium

Sales data for Belgium is hard to find, so I have cobbled together data as best I can. FEBIAC is the source for such, and they are cautious about letting too much out.

Belgians like their cars. For a small nation, they buy them in large numbers. Over 399,200 new cars were bought in 1980. In 1983 it slipped to 338,900 but bounced back to 439,800 by 1989. Just under 10 million people were living there in that year.

Toyota started well but disappeared with haste. Then European designed cars took over. Being a market without a local brand, sales are spread more evenly. In 1980 for example, all the brands were remarkably close to each other.

Yr	1st	Sales	%	2nd	Sales	%	3rd	Sales	%	4th	Sales	%	%
1980	Toyo	36.0	9	Ren	35.8	9	Opel	35.2	9	VW	34.9	9	36
1981	VW	35.3	10	Ren	31.1	9	Ford	30.3	9	Opel	27.8	8	36
1982	VW	35.9	10	Opel	34.8	10	Ren	32.4	9	Ford	29.6	9	39
1983	Opel	37.8	11	VW	32.7	10	Ren	27.7	8	Ford	26.4	8	37
1984	Opel	41.3	12	Ford	33.9	10	VW	33.1	9	Ren	29.2	8	39
1985	Opel	45.2	13	VW	37.6	10	Ren	33.0	9	Ford	32.5	9	41
1986	Opel	46.2	12	VW	42.0	11	Ford	35.1	9	Ren	33.5	8	40
1987	Opel	46.8	12	VW	43.9	11	Ford	39.5	10	Ren	35.3	9	41
1988	Opel	48.8	11	VW	46.3	11	Ford	42.7	10	Peug	38.5	9	41
1989	VW	49.6	11	Opel	49.1	11	Ford	44.8	10	Ren	44.0	10	43

For other decades click on the years: 1990-99, and 2000-13.

The Renault 5 is unmistakably French in style