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What a difference a year makes. 12 months ago the full scope of the global recession was really hitting home.
And carmakers were bracing themselves, finding themselves hit harder than most by the sudden change in circumstances.
Since then we've had government bail-outs, scrappage schemes, buy-outs, mergers and all manner of incentives to help ailing carmakers stay afloat. So now the dust is beginning to settle who's coming out on top?
Well, after a year of doom and gloom it looks like things might just be starting to pick up with a glut of fresh new models and buyers' fragile confidence seemingly on the mend.
A strong September has seen the European car market increase by 7.5%, reducing the year to date deficit to 5.7%. A scrappage enhanced rise of 11.4% for September in the UK meanwhile masks an overall drop of 15.5% over the year.
So what trends do we see? Well, downsizing is definitely kicking in with the BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and VW Passat all elbowed out of the top 10 in favour of smaller models. Read on for the full results...
