Germany August 2013: Audi A3 up to all-time record 2nd place, Mercedes A-Class up to #5

The Audi A3 reaches its highest ever ranking at home this month at #2.

* See the Top 304 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

New car sales in Germany are down 3% year-on-year in August to 214,044 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 1,969,820 units, down 7% on 2012. Massive event this month: the Audi A3 is up 5 spots on July to land at an all-time record high second place thanks to 6,052 sales and 2.8%, also its best-ever market share at home, also reached in October and December 2008. In the nameplate’s 17 year history, since its original launch in 1996, its previous best ranking in Germany was #4 hit in December 2010, April 2013 and June 2013… And the sedan is only being added to the range now!

Mercedes A-Class

Further illustrating the new threat that premium German compacts now represent, the Mercedes A-Class is for its part up 9 ranks on last month to sell 4,472 units for a 2.1% market share and rank #5, the nameplate’s 2nd best ranking in Germany in the last 8 years below the #4 it reached in September 2011. The BMW 3 Series at #3 and 2.6% share, the Mercedes C-Class up 3 spots to #6 and 2.1%, the Audi A4 up 9 to #7 and 2% and the BMW 5 Series up 9 to #12 and 1.8% all excel and lodge market shares above their year-to-date levels, whereas the VW Polo (-1 to #4) and VW Passat (-6 to #8) are both in difficulty.

The Seat Leon hits its highest ever ranking in Germany this month at #20.

If the Skoda Octavia (#17) and Fabia (#18) still lead the imports ranking, they are now threatened by the Seat Leon, breaking into the German Top 20 for the first time ever (so many records this month in Germany!) thanks to 2,690 sales and 1.3% share, its previous best being #23 in December 2005… The Seat Ibiza is also up 4 to #24, however like in July the best-selling ‘true’ foreigner (as in not owned by VW) is the Fiat 500 up a further 4 spots to #26 with 2,450 units and 1.1% – keep in mind this figure includes the 500L.

The Fiat 500/500L is the most popular ‘true’ foreigner this month again.

Notice also the Nissan Qashqai up 5 to #30, the Hyundai i30 stable at #32, the Mazda CX-5 up a huge 29 ranks to a record 34th place, the Hyundai i20 up 187 to #35, Renault Clio up 31 to #36, Dacia Sandero up 7 to #37 and the Toyota Auris up 19 to #39. Note there are 13 foreigners inside the Top 50 in August vs. 13 in July.

The BMW i3 is now among the 200 most popular vehicles in Germany.

Further down, the Mercedes GLK is up 22 spots to #47, the Renault Captur up 14 to #69, Peugeot 2008 down 13 to #98, the Mercedes S-Class boosted by the new model and up 19 ranks on July to already knock at the Top 100’s door at #101, the Dacia Dokker up 20 to #102 and confirming it now sells more in Germany than its twin the Renault Kangoo at #107 (unlike in France!), the Dacia Logan up 52 to #136 and the BMW i3 up 53 to #200 with 77 sales, equalling the Munich manufacturer’s other newcomer the BMW 4 Series, down 2 spots.

Previous month: Germany July 2013: Mercedes E-Class up to #5

One year ago: Germany August 2012: Audi A4 up to #2, Opel Mokka lands

Full August 2013 Top 304 models Ranking Table below.