Switzerland August 2012: Historical: Subaru XV takes the lead!

Incredible: the Subaru XV is the best-selling car in Switzerland this month

* See the Top 50 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

22,052 new vehicles found a buyer in Switzerland in August, bringing the year-to-date total to 224,360 registrations, up 11% on 2011. It’s a historical month for car sales in Switzerland: for the first time since I have had monthly access to a models ranking and possibly for the first time since the nameplate’s original launch in 1974, the VW Golf is not the #1 model, not even #2 but #3 with 625 sales and 2.8% share. This could be because of the imminent arrival of the 7th generation…

Subaru advert: ‘Switzerland in XV fever’ 

There are two culprits in this unheard-of move: the Skoda Octavia, ranking at its usual #2 but passing the Golf for potentially the first time ever with 661 units and 3% – still lower than its year-to-date level at 3.2%, and the outstanding performer of the month: the Subaru XV. After shooting up to a world-best 4th place last month, the XV does the unthinkable: it is up 3 spots to an unbelievable first place in Switzerland with 722 sales and 3.3% share – and this is even without counting sales of its twin Impreza (39)!

Subaru Leone

Subaru’s tagline is ‘Switzerland’s 4×4’ and the Alpine nation has been its best-performing country in Europe for decades, starting with the Subaru Leone, #7 in the eighties, then the Subaru Legacy, #11 in the nineties, and the Subaru Impreza #24 in 2007. But never had any Subaru been that successful in Switzerland. It will be fascinating to see where the XV stabilises once the ‘honeymoon’ with consumers, traditional in the first few months of sales, is over. You can see the Subaru XV’s Swiss TV commercials here.

Seat Alhambra

Other great performers in Switzerland this month include the Audi A4 up 6 spots on July to #4, the Seat Alhambra up a massive 32 ranks to #10, the BMW X1 up an even more impressive 54 spots to #12, the Audi Q3 up 10 to world-best #14, the Audi A6 up 14 to #18, the Peugeot 208 up 23 to #22, the Mercedes B-Class up 14 to #33 and the Peugeot 308 up 33 to #36.

Previous month: Switzerland July 2012: Subaru XV shoots up to world-best #4!

One year ago: Switzerland August 2011: VW Golf and Polo strong

Full August 2012 Top 50 Ranking Table below.