There was a late twist in Portugal’s car sales race in 2025 – and it came right at the finishing line.
For most of the year, the Peugeot 2008 looked unbeatable. The French compact SUV led the national sales chart from March to November and was widely tipped to end the year as Portugal’s best-selling car, a title it had already claimed in 2021, 2022 and 2023. But December changed everything.
The Renault Clio surged ahead unexpectedly, posting eye-watering sales figures in the final month of the year. A total of 1,703 units were sold in December alone, more than three times the number registered in the same month of 2024. That late sprint was enough to crown the Clio Portugal’s best-selling car of 2025.
According to automobile news website Razão Automóvel, the Clio’s sales explosion is partly explained by the arrival of a new generation, which has already opened for orders. As often happens in these moments, dealerships moved quickly to clear remaining stock of the outgoing model, helping fuel one of the most dramatic end-of-year turnarounds the Portuguese car market has seen in recent years.
Over the entirety of 2025, the Clio ended up selling 8,242 units, a 28.3% year-on-year increase, and 773 more than the second-placed Peugeot 2008, according to data from Portugal’s Automobile Club (ACAP)
Third and fourth place went to Dacia, with the Sandero selling 6,670 units and the Duster 5,854.
The Citröen C3 was Portugal’s fifth most-sold car (5,428), ahead of the Peugeot 208 (5,066), the Renault Captur (4,554), the Tesla Model 3 (4,372) and the Peugeot 308 (4,108). The Mercedes-Benz Classe A capped off the top 10 list with 3,790 units sold.
