Can You Name The Best-Selling Car Of 1998?

1988 Best Seller Ts5
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When it comes to the most popular cars, bikes, and nameplates of all time, us enthusiasts usually have a good handle on the key statistics. The Toyota Corolla dominates all cars, the Honda Super Cub dominates all other bikes, and the Volkswagen Beetle had one of the longest production runs out there. But did you know the humble Opel Corsa has a lofty record all its own?

Funnily enough, you probably never think about the Corsa in the US. It was destined to reach North America under the Saturn brand in the 2010s, but the death of Saturn put paid to that dream. Regardless, the Corsa had a grand career that pretty much spanned the rest of the world.

Indeed, back in 1998, the Corsa was at its peak. For one short year, it was the best-selling car in the world.

Opel Corsa 1997 Cutaway
Opel’s front-wheel-drive platform was never seen as reliable as Toyota’s Corolla, nor as refined as Volkswagen’s Golf. Yet, in 1998, it came out the victor.

You might think that this was all due to some immense launch hype, that the Corsa burst on the scene and took the world by storm. That’s actually anything but the case. The Corsa that dominated the charts in 1998 was not a new car. At this point, Opel was building the Corsa B, which had been on the market since 1993 in Europe. It was only five years into its run that it managed to pull off this banger feat.

The Corsa had a lot going for it. It was cheap, not unreliable, and it was available practically everywhere but the US and Canada. In 1998, it was on sale across Europe and South America, as well as Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and Mexico.

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There was even a cabrio!

With such a wide customer base, Opel shifted a full 910,839 units for the whole year. The Corsa was getting built all over the world at this point, with GM plants assembling Corsas on four continents.

To take the victory, the Corsa had to beat out some big names. It only narrowly pipped the Toyota Corolla, which chalked up 906,953 sales for the year. Volkswagen came in third with 892,367 units of the Golf, while the Toyota Camry had a strong showing in fourth at 697,258 cars sold.

Bodystyles were many and varied, which was sort of the Corsa’s specialty. You could get the regular 3-door or 5-door hatchbacks, or a four-door sedan if you were a three-box kinda person. There was also a five-door wagon or “estate” version, and a two-door utility to boot. The latter was sold as the Chevrolet Chevy in Mexico, and is about as cute as a ute can be.

Opel Corsa 1998 Images 1

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Next year you can import this 2000 model to the United States. I think. via Mercado Libre

By virtue of being in so many markets, the Corsa also went under many names. You could get a Vauxhall Corsa in the UK, or an Opel Corsa in Europe. Chile got the Chevrolet Corsa Plus, while Mexico got the hilarious Chevrolet Chevy. Holden called it the Barina, while Japan called it the Opel Vita. After its banger year, the Corsa B eventually ended up in China as the Buick or Chevrolet Sail, though it was previously known by a catchier name—the Meilu JJ7090.

The Corsa B had a long run, too. Europe was done with it by 2000, but Argentina and Brazil kept pumping these things out until 2016. By that point, Opel in Europe was two years into building the Corsa E.

Opel Corsa 1998 Pictures 2

Opel Corsa 1998 Pictures 4

Images Chevrolet Corsa 1997 2
The Corsa B came in a many brands and body styles — some more attractive than others.

Indeed, the Corsa often doesn’t get due credit as one of the world’s most popular cars—at least from English-speaking media. As a nameplate, it actually racked up 18 million sales by 2007 alone. Today, it’s still popular in Europe, though it’s no longer a big deal in Australia like it once was.

In any case, raise a glass to the Opel Corsa B. It might not have been 1998’s best, or fairest, but it was certainly the highest-selling of all. That’s worth celebrating.

Image credits: Opel, Mercado Libre

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65 thoughts on “Can You Name The Best-Selling Car Of 1998?”

  1. Opel Corsa B was essentially Opel corsa A with restyled body and updated engines. Considering that production of Corsa A started in 1982 it was old but reliable platform with one big advantage – most of the parts from other GM models had bolt on fit. I made and drove for more then 10 years two of those. First one had 2.0 16v 180hp from Opel Kadet 16v, second one had 2.0 16v turbo C20let from Calibra turbo with approximately 270 hp. In a 950 kg car. That car was FUN! And fast. Faster then Bmw M3, M5, Porshe 911 turbo, Maserati, Lancer Evo… So, it is no wander that Opel Corsa B was best-selling car, it was a good car.

  2. Opel Corsa B was essentially Opel corsa A with restyled body and updated engines. Considering that production of Corsa A started in 1982 it was old but reliable platform with one big advantage – most of the parts from other GM models had bolt on fit. I made and drove for more then 10 years two of those. First one had 2.0 16v 180hp from Opel Kadet 16v, second one had 2.0 16v turbo C20let from Calibra turbo with approximately 270 hp. In a 950 kg car. That car was FUN! And fast. Faster then Bmw M3, M5, Porshe 911 turbo, Maserati, Lancer Evo… So, it is no wander that Opel Corsa B was best-selling car, it was a good car.

  7. I didn’t know this model existed; I knew of Opel, of course. Glad it did so good even though we didn’t get it.
    “Chevrolet Chevy”
    So that’s like the Eagle Eagle in 1988!

  8. I didn’t know this model existed; I knew of Opel, of course. Glad it did so good even though we didn’t get it.
    “Chevrolet Chevy”
    So that’s like the Eagle Eagle in 1988!

  9. I would just like to point out that the Americans culturally appropriated the Italian word for race (corsa) long before the Germans did.

    Corsa was the highest performance specification of the Chevrolet Corvair so it was somewhat appropriate. I’m pretty sure that naming an econobox Corsa is against the Second Vatican Council.

  10. I would just like to point out that the Americans culturally appropriated the Italian word for race (corsa) long before the Germans did.

    Corsa was the highest performance specification of the Chevrolet Corvair so it was somewhat appropriate. I’m pretty sure that naming an econobox Corsa is against the Second Vatican Council.

  11. Way too many of these still going strong around me not to know what it is. Kinda don’t care for them though, because, well, there’s just too many of them still going strong around me.

    You left out one body style: the portuguese-built Combo van was technically a separate model but was heavily based on the Corsa B.

    1. Off topic but I do have a moment to talk about Renaults. As a long time AMC fan their fortunes were intertwined of course. I briefly had a Caravelle I wanted to fix up but in the end it was too far rotted to save and it became a parts car for another Caravelle owner.

      1. Ohhh the Caravelle is gorgeous. I am here for anything related to classic Renault models. My daily driver is a 1991 Renault 4, and my first car was a dilapidated 1989 Espace Quadra. I also like AMC, definitely my favourite American automaker. I loved them before I was even aware of the connection with Renault. I remember seeings Pacers and Gremlins in pop culture growing up, and thinking they were cooler than any other American car by far. Like, not even a contest.

          1. The 4CV is such a cool little car. They’re nicknamed ‘Joaninha’ here in Portugal, meaning Ladybug. I know of a pristine one that’s technically unrestored, but it’s been so well maintained its entire life and is currently in its 4th paintjob, and also the chrome trim is regularly polished, it looks like it been freshly restored. It’s basically concours condition, obsessively maintained for 40 years by the original owner, and treated with basically the same level of care by his grandchildren for the past 2 decades.

  12. Way too many of these still going strong around me not to know what it is. Kinda don’t care for them though, because, well, there’s just too many of them still going strong around me.

    You left out one body style: the portuguese-built Combo van was technically a separate model but was heavily based on the Corsa B.

    1. Off topic but I do have a moment to talk about Renaults. As a long time AMC fan their fortunes were intertwined of course. I briefly had a Caravelle I wanted to fix up but in the end it was too far rotted to save and it became a parts car for another Caravelle owner.

      1. Ohhh the Caravelle is gorgeous. I am here for anything related to classic Renault models. My daily driver is a 1991 Renault 4, and my first car was a dilapidated 1989 Espace Quadra. I also like AMC, definitely my favourite American automaker. I loved them before I was even aware of the connection with Renault. I remember seeings Pacers and Gremlins in pop culture growing up, and thinking they were cooler than any other American car by far. Like, not even a contest.

          1. The 4CV is such a cool little car. They’re nicknamed ‘Joaninha’ here in Portugal, meaning Ladybug. I know of a pristine one that’s technically unrestored, but it’s been so well maintained its entire life and is currently in its 4th paintjob, and also the chrome trim is regularly polished, it looks like it been freshly restored. It’s basically concours condition, obsessively maintained for 40 years by the original owner, and treated with basically the same level of care by his grandchildren for the past 2 decades.

  13. They were everywhere here in Costa Rica back then in all body styles. They are all gone now, lack of parts killed them. The few you see are probably on their ways to the junkyard.

      1. Don’t quote me on this but I think they were sold as Opels but through Chevy dealerships. Still, potato = potato. I especially liked the little pick-ups.

        Sometimes dealers’ interest is only in selling new. Chevrolet dealerships here have been notoriously bad at keeping parts stock, even for new cars, so imagine what happens after a few years and tens of thousands of miles and they require parts. At first you benefited from crashed ones, but eventually that repository dries up.

        Here’s the only one I could find for sale locally, and it’s a parts car only:
        https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2200292343658337/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A8b3e671a-6f35-41d5-88f3-684b656e8661

        A similar thing happened to the first gen Peugeot 206s. They were absolutely everywhere and now they’re all Fe2O3

  14. They were everywhere here in Costa Rica back then in all body styles. They are all gone now, lack of parts killed them. The few you see are probably on their ways to the junkyard.

      1. Except it’s just the LaFerrari. The extra “Ferrari” which often appears is merely the function of nearly all websites/insurance documents/government agencies requiring something in the “manufacturer” field and something in the “model” field.
        Same thing when we end up with “Land Rover Range Rover”. It’s just a glitch.

    2. I would like to order a plain baked potato with nothing on it. Reminds me of things I had to pay attention in my technical writing class in college.

        1. Ok yeah, technically…it was just sort of the same thing…was just making a joke since I remember reading about it in junkyard finds
          https://www.autoblog.com/2021/06/13/junkyard-gem-1988-amc-eagle-wagon/

          “Sure, nobody at Chrysler wanted to go to the hassle of prying off the AMC badges and mirrors from a couple of thousand new ’88 Eagle Wagons, but these cars were — legally speaking — Eagle Eagles. It appears that Chrysler managed to dodge — get it? — being forced to use the “Eagle Eagle” name in any marketing materials, but this car will always be the Eagle Eagle to me.”

    2. I would like to order a plain baked potato with nothing on it. Reminds me of things I had to pay attention in my technical writing class in college.

        1. Ok yeah, technically…it was just sort of the same thing…was just making a joke since I remember reading about it in junkyard finds
          https://www.autoblog.com/2021/06/13/junkyard-gem-1988-amc-eagle-wagon/

          “Sure, nobody at Chrysler wanted to go to the hassle of prying off the AMC badges and mirrors from a couple of thousand new ’88 Eagle Wagons, but these cars were — legally speaking — Eagle Eagles. It appears that Chrysler managed to dodge — get it? — being forced to use the “Eagle Eagle” name in any marketing materials, but this car will always be the Eagle Eagle to me.”

  25. “Opel’s front-wheel-drive platform was never seen as reliable as Toyota’s Corolla, nor as refined as Volkswagen’s Golf” — although true, it is still weird to compare Corsa to Corolla or Golf. it is a sub-compact, or a supermini as the Brits call it. a direct competitor to Yaris or a VW Polo.
    apples-to-apples comparison would be Corolla to Astra. Which Toyota still would have won hands down

    1. You’re not wrong, but I think the point was that the Corolla and golf were moving a similar number of vehicles while the yaris and polo sold in far fewer quantities.

    2. They are being compared because the Corolla and Golf were the 2nd and 3rd best selling cars that year, respectively, not because they were in the same class

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