The Chinese auto sector can best be described as bloody confusing with the hundreds of different home-based companies, and joint ventures with more well-known foreign automakers. Unsurprisingly, all three best-selling cars in China are, well, Chinese in design and production, although the third-placed car is badged a Volkswagen. Very impressive! The Wuling Hongguang people-mover is up by 67 percent over last year with 750,019. Second, Haval H6 is the first SUV – Chinese or not – to break 300,000 sales, with 315,881 total. Third-placed Volkswagen Latida, a largish sedan based on old Passat bones, remains a favourite.

The last of the BRIC nations, India, hasn’t reached China’s level of investment, but it remains a growing market. Suzuki, the most recent automaker to pull out of North America, is going gangbusters in India. The local Suzuki Maruti partnership dominated with both its Alto (264,544 units) in first place, and Swift DZire second. The plain-sold Suzuki Swift ranked third.

In other Asian markets, Toyota’s dominance can’t be overstated. In Taiwan, the Corolla garners over 10 percent of Taiwan sales annually, with 44,926 finding homes in 2014. The Toyota RAV4 second a strong second, and the compact Toyota Wish MPV third. In Vietnam, another all-Big-T podium with the sleek Vios becoming a first-time best-seller with 9,187 sales, up almost 80 percent over last year, ahead of the basic Fortuner SUV and compact Innova minivan.

Indonesia proved another near-sweep with Toyota’s basic Avanza people-mover celebrating nine years on top with 162,228 sales, although it lost nearly a quarter of its volume in 2014 compared with only a two percent drop in the overall market. The new Honda Mobilo caught fire later in the year and ended up a strong second with 79,288, and Toyota’s Agya hatchback third with 67,074.

Toyota’s dominance continued in its home market, and although the market has constricted steadily thanks to economic and other factors, Japan still does buy a lot of cars. Probably helps that a good portion are the teeny Kei-cars – ultra compact vehicles with very strict regulations on overall dimensions and engine displacement – including the Daihatsu Tanto, which is up 62 percent with 234,456 units. This was a rare year when a Kei-car outsold a ‘regular’ model. The Toyota Aqua took second with 233,209 – barely more than 1200 units behind – and the new Honda Fit in third with 202,838 units moved.

Getting accurate updated numbers for large swaths of Africa can be tricky, although the Dacia Logan moved 24,469 units and stayed ahead of the Hyundai Accent and Kia Picanto in a slowing Algerian market. In Egypt, a workhorse Chevrolet TFR pickup – dubbed the Tank locally – scored a close win over the Hyundai Verna (Accent) with 24,892 sales.

Finally, in South Africa, the Toyota Hilux proves its popularity in rough areas is well deserved with 37,382 of the unbreakable pickup finding owners. Two locally assembled versions of the Volkswagen Polo were second and third respectively, although garnered almost twice as many sales combined (64,453) as the Hilux.

Connect with Autos.ca