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A segment

Hyundai i10

Of the 4.68 million sub-compact cars sold in 2016, Hyundai's city car (also known as the Grand or the Xcent in certain regions) made up the majority of sales, though, thanks to booming demand for new cars in India -- due in part to easier access to credit, the Renault Kwid is catching up.

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B segment

Volkswagen Polo

Its bigger brother, the Golf, might have slipped up thanks to the continued fall-out from Dieselgate, but elsewhere, Volkswagen's compact Polo sits on top of a segment representing 10.29 million vehicle sales last year.

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C Segment

Toyota Corolla

Before the rise of SUVs and crossovers, the mid-size car was the world's most popular choice. And although sales aren't what they used to be (15.48 million), the biggest seller is still a Toyota -- the Corolla.

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D Segment

Toyota Camry

As well as being America's most popular car, the Toyota Camry can claim to be the world's most popular full-size sedan/hatchback, though it's facing competition from the Chevrolet Malibu which saw its share of the 7.63 million car market increase the most over the course of 2016.

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E Segment

BMW 5-Series

The world's most popular executive car is the BMW 5-Series. The segment contracted by 2.4% over 2016 to 2.09 million vehicles, but this drop  could have been due to a number of cars in this segment being refreshed or replaced towards the end of the year -- the 5-Series included.

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F Segment

BMW 7-Series

The 5-Series' big brother, the 7-Series is also the king of the full-size luxury car market -- a segment that's seen an 11.7% expansion over the past 12 months and now accounts for 312,000 car sales around the world.

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Pickup truck

Ford F-Series

Nearly 5 million pickups were sold around the world in 2016 and most of those were of the Ford F-Series variety, making it the world's most popular vehicle. And the pickup market is about to get even more exciting over the next year as Mercedes enters the segment.

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Sportscar

Ford Mustang

Ford can also claim to make the world's most popular sportscar in the form of the current-generation Mustang, its first muscle car to be offered officially in Europe as well as the US. The demand for sportscars contracted by just 1.1% over the course of 2016 to 563,000.

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MPV

Wuling Hongguang

A vehicle type invented in Japan and perfected in the US, the Minivan was once the only choice for the average American family with an active lifestyle. Yet it's a Chinese car, the Wuling Hongguang that is currently outselling everything from the Honda Odyssey to the Chrysler Pacifica.

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SUV

Nissan X-Trail

After several years at the top, the Honda CR-V has been overtaken by the Nissan X-Trail as the world's most popular SUV. Over the course of 2016, 24.32 million crossovers and SUVs were registered around the world, or 28.8% of all vehicles sold this year.

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For every yearly success story, there are failures that never leave the history books.