Three cars have been widely acknowledged as the "bestselling automobile in the world" since Ford built its millionth Model T on December 10, 1915. The Model T itself remained the highest seller until forty five years after production ceased in 1927. On February 17, 1972 Volkswagen claimed that the Ford had been superseded by the Beetle, when the 15,007,034th was manufactured.[1] Although The Model T has subsequently been credited with 16.5 million units sold, this anomaly is moot in light of the Beetle reaching 21 million.[6]
The Beetle remained the bestselling vehicle until the late 1990s,[7] when it was itself overtaken by the Toyota Corolla.[8] This was an example of the modern practice of applying a brand name across a range of vehicles, and retaining it for marketing purposes even as the car changes.[4] While the first Corolla in 1966 was rear wheel drive and rode on a 2286 mm wheelbase, the current front wheel drive versions share a 2600 mm wheelbase and use a mechanically unrelated platform.