Greece August 2015: BMW 1 Series and Mercedes A-Class shoot up

The BMW 1 Series is the 4th best-selling model in Greece in August…

* See the Top 30 All-brands and Top 80 models by clicking on the title *

After dipping by 29% in July, new car sales in Greece are back up 21% year-on-year in August to 4.470 registrations, lifting the year-to-date total to 53.059 units, up 9% on 2014. Brand-wise, Toyota outpaces the market with sales up 38% to 13.2% share above Renault (+230%), Opel (-1%), Mercedes (+80%) and Volkswagen (-17%), BMW (+136%), Peugeot (+164%) and Volvo (+40%) take off. Model-wise, the German mass sellers (Opel Corsa and VW Polo) continue to suffer, leaving a highway for the Toyota Yaris to finish the year at #1 again, with August sales up 80% to 9% share.

…while the Mercedes A-Class is up to #6.

The bailout crisis, after penalising the market last month, seems to have triggered a mini-rush towards German premium models in August, potentially in fear of future inflation: the BMW 1 Series is up 5-fold on August 2014 to a fantastic 4th place with 3.6% share, the Mercedes A-Class is up 353% to #6 and 3.3% share, the Mercedes GLA up 195% to #23,the BMW 2 Series up 21 ranks on July to #38 and, although not premium but compact which is a larger than usual format in Greece, the Ford Focus is up 243% to #8. Notice also the Renault Clio up 226% to #2, the Peugeot 208 up 180% to #10, the Renault Captur up 265% to #21 and the Jeep Renegade up 7 spots on July to #30.

Previous month: Greece July 2015: Bailout crisis triggers return to recession at -29%

One year ago: Greece August 2014: Toyota Yaris reclaims lead

Full August 2015 Top 30 All-brands and Top 80 models below.