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Germany 1971-1973: Last years of reign for the VW Beetle

January 25th, 1974 Leave a comment Go to comments

VW Beetle

* See ‘Read more’ for the Top 20 best-selling models, many thanks to Florian for the data! *

The VW Beetle enjoys its last 3 years atop the German models ranking, making it 25 consecutive years. Over the period it slows down from 291,312 sales in 71 to 257,742 in 72 and 236,308 in 73. The Opel Kadett is #2 in 71 at 142,514 units but is passed by the Opel Rekord in 72 (177,280 sales) and 73 (151,202).

Opel Rekord

The Mercedes ‘Strich 8′ lodges the brand’s best scores ever in the country, ranking #4 in 71 with 129,758 sales and up to #3 in 72 at 148,122 units and in 73 with 135,447 sales. Other great performers during the period are the Ford Taunus peaking at #5 and 123,658 units in 71, the Audi 80, litterally exploding onto the German car landscape, directly #4 in 73 with 125,607 sales, and the Opel Ascona up to #6 and 96,125 units in 73.

Audi 80

The Renault 4 continues to dominate the foreign models ranking all through the period but goes down from #8 in 71 to #11 in 73. Notice also the BMW “-02″ up to #8 in 72, the Fiat 128 up to #12 that same year and the birth of the VW Passat nameplate, landing directly in 12th position in 73 with 37,761 sales.

Full 1971, 1972 and 1973 Top 20 Ranking Tables below.

Germany 1971:


Pos Model 1971 % 1970 % Pos
1 VW Beetle 291,312 13.5% 328,715 15.6% 1
2 Opel Kadett 142,514 6.6% 184,402 8.8% 2
3 Opel Rekord 131,514 6.1% 168,510 8.0% 3
4 Mercedes “Strich 8″ 129,758 6.0%
5 Ford Taunus 123,658 5.7% 25,106 1.2% 15
6 Ford 17M / 20M / 26M 92,745 4.3% 108,981 5.2% 5
7 VW 1600 83,419 3.9% 152,546 7.2% 4
8 Renault 4 67,060 3.1% 84,890 4.0% 6
9 Opel Manta 56,160 2.6% 16,347 0.8%
10 Fiat 128 56,000 2.6% 37,500 1.8% 13
11 BMW “-02″ 54,136 2.5% 46,041 2.2% 10
12 Opel Ascona 51,671 2.4% 2,306 0.1%
13 VW K 70 46,691 2.2% 5,962 0.3%
14 Ford Capri 45,420 2.1% 69,039 3.3% 7
15 Ford Escort 42,677 2.0% 40,027 1.9% 11
16 Simca 1000 37,133 1.7%
17 VW Bus 33,677 1.6%
18 Renault 6 29,000 1.3%
19 Fiat 850 25,000 1.2%
20 Mercedes S-Klasse 23,657 1.1%
Simca 1100 22,500 1.0% 12,775 0.6%
Citroen 2CV 19,360 0.9% 17,720 0.8% 20
BMW 2500 – 3.3 / CS 17,975 0.8% 21,428 1.0% 17
VW 411 15,119 0.7% 22,201 1.1% 16
BMW 1800-2000 14,790 0.7% 18,998 0.9% 18
Fiat 127 13,785 0.6%
Fiat 500 12,787 0.6%
Opel Commodore 10,563 0.5% 18,739 0.9% 19
Citroen GS 8,728 0.4% 107 0.0%
Opel Admiral / Diplomat 6,436 0.3% 9,515 0.5%
Citroen DS/ID 5,266 0.2% 5,480 0.3%
VW-Porsche 914 4,609 0.2% 3,820 0.2%
Opel GT 3,709 0.2% 1,981 0.1%
Porsche 911 3,605 0.2%
Skoda Limousine / Coupe 3,514 0.2%
Citroen Dyane 3,483 0.2% 4,470 0.2%
Hanomag-Henschel “Harburger” 3,250 0.2% 2,858 0.1%
VW Karmann Ghia 2,798 0.1% 3,421 0.2%
Mercedes SL 2,336 0.1%
Citroen Ami 8 1,217 0.1% 3,176 0.2%
VW Fridolin 1,107 0.1% 771 0.0%
Toyota Corolla 654 0.0%
Ford T5 547 0.0% 377 0.0%
VW 181 473 0.0% 1,048 0.0%
Citroen SM 410 0.0% 46 0.0%
Toyota Carina 225 0.0%
Autobianchi Panorama 17 0.0%

Germany 1972:

Pos Model 1972 1971
1 VW Beetle 257,742 1
2 Opel Rekord 177,280 3
3 Mercedes ‘Strich 8′ 148,122 4
4 Opel Kadett 136,992 2
5 Ford Taunus 90,402 5
6 Opel Ascona 75,684 11
7 Audi 100 70,236  -
8 BMW “-02″ 66,226 10
9 VW 1600 65,585 7
10 Renault 4 62,626 8
11 Ford Consul 58,165  -
12 Fiat 128 50,209  -
13 Ford Escort 40,398 14
14 Opel Manta 38,734 9
15 Fiat 127 34,348 21
16 Audi 60/75/Super 90 32,159  -
17 Ford Capri 30,459 13
18 VW K70 30,160 12
19 Renault 16 28,554  -
20 Ford Granada 27,577  -
Ford 17M/20M/26M 24,882 6
Fiat 124 23,462
Renault 6 22,482
Renault 12 21,575
Audi 80 21,237
BMW 2500 / 3.3 20,187 18
Citroen 2CV 19,889 17
VW 411 18,639 19
Opel Commodore 17,203
Citroen GS 16,308
Mercedes S-Klasse 14,101 16
Fiat 500 12,276
Volvo 140 11,503
Fiat 125 10,978
BMW 5er 6,971
Fiat 850 6,639
Renault 5 5,973
Opel Admiral/Diplomat 5,767
Citroen DS/ID 5,510
Mercedes SL 4,802
VW-Porsche 914 4,602
Opel GT 4,066
Skoda Limousine / Coupe 3,979
Porsche 911 3,957
Citroen Dyane 2,762
Hanomag-Henschel F-Serie 2,466
Polski Fiat 125p 2,412
Renault 15 2,390
BMW 1800/2000 2,384 20
VW Karmann Ghia 2,123
Fiat 132 1,890
Renault 17 1,883
Volvo 160 1,223
Citroen Ami 8 1,170
Mercedes SLC 1,104
Datsun 1200 915
Fiat 130 674
Citroen SM 292
Datsun Bluebird 254
Steyr-Puch 500 149
Datsun Cherry 85
Datsun 240 Z 20

Germany 1973:

Pos Model 1973 1972
1 VW Beetle 236,308 1
2 Opel Rekord 151,202 2
3 Mercedes ‘Strich 8′ 135,447 3
4 Audi 80 125,607 n/a
5 Opel Kadett 123,404 4
6 Opel Ascona 96,125 6
7 Ford Taunus 90,064 5
8 Audi 100 63,046 7
9 Ford Consul 58,256 11
10 BMW “-02″ 51,287 8
11 Renault 4 48,972 10
12 VW Passat 37,761 n/a
13 Fiat 128 37,502 12
14 Ford Escort 35,619 13
15 Mercedes S-Klasse 32,299 n/a
16 VW K70 28,233 18
17 Opel Manta 26,550 14
18 VW 1600 26,036 9
19 Renault 5 25,777 n/a
20 Fiat 127 25,569 15
21 BMW 5er 23,609 n/a
22 Ford Capri 22,439 17
23 Renault 16 22,139 19
24 Citroen 2CV 19,964 n/a
25 VW 411/412 18,389 n/a
Renault 12 17,635
Renault 6 16,115
BMW 2500 / 3.3 15,563
Ford Granada 15,289 20
Opel Commodore 15,131
Citroen GS 13,799
Fiat 124 12,828
Fiat 126 10,776
Volvo 140 9,997
Fiat 132 9,162
Fiat 500 5,938
Citroen DS/ID 5,549
Opel Admiral/Diplomat 5,178
Renault 17 4,971
Renault 15 4,946
Mercedes SL/SLC 4,783
VW-Porsche 914 4,429
Datsun 1200 4,123
Skoda Limousine / Coupe 3,950
Porsche 911 3,655
Datsun Cherry 3,559
Fiat 850 2,951
Opel GT 2,786
Chrysler Sunbeam 2,720
Citroen Dyane 2,706
Polski Fiat 125p 1,893
Datsun Bluebird 1,603
Citroen Ami 8 1,387
VW Karmann Ghia 1,338
Fiat 125 1,314
Hanomag-Henschel F-Serie 1,112
Volvo 160 989
Fiat 130 420
Citroen SM 143
Datsun 240 Z 126
Renault Alpine 85

Source: Manufacturers, many thanks to Florian for sharing the data!

Categories: Germany
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