Best Selling Cars – Matt's blog

Opel Mokka

* See the Top 40 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Thanks JKLN *

As usual, after going through overall German sales for April, let’s now have a look at the private sales (PS) ranking, painting a very different picture once again. The VW Golf and Polo still lead, but they are now followed by the Mercedes B-Class up 2 spots on March while the Mercedes A-Class is stable at an excellent 4th position. The Audi A3′s success in the overall ranking (#4) is reflected here: it is up 14 spots to #6 with 2,317 sales and an ok 35% PS ratio.

Dacia Sandero

But the big event in this month’s German Private Sales ranking is the impressive arrival of the Opel Mokka within the Top 10, up 6 ranks on last month to #8 at 2,132 units and an outstanding 75% PS ratio. As expected, the Dacia Sandero also takes off this month: up 14 spots to an excellent 11th place with 1,964 sales and a (still) out-of-this-world 92% PS ratio. Notice also the Opel Adam breaking into the Top 40 for the first time at #33 albeit with a surprisingly low PS ratio of 44%.

The best performing models in terms of PS ratio are similar to last month: the Toyota Auris (83%), Dacia Duster (82%), Skoda Yeti (78%), Toyota Yaris (74%) and Ford B-Max (71%), while on the other end of the scale, the Opel Corsa (20%), Opel Astra (21%), BMW 3 Series (26%) and VW Touran (29%) are the worst offenders.

Previous post: Germany April 2013: Audi A3 and Mercedes E-Class up

Previous month: Germany private sales March 2013: Mercedes E-Class and Opel Mokka up

Full April 2013 Top 40 Ranking Table below.

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The Mercedes CLA is up to #61 this month in Germany.

* See the Top 300 All-models and Top 50 All-brands by clicking on the title! *

German new car sales are reassuringly back in positive territory in April, up 4% year-on-year to 284,444 registrations, which brings the year-to-date total to 958,401 units, still down 9% on 2012 however. After a 4 month-hiatus, Volkswagen is back to monopolising the monthly podium again, placing the Golf at #1 and 8.1% share followed by the Polo at 2.7% and the Passat at 2.4%. The best performer this month is the Audi A3, up 4 spots on March to land in 4th place with 6,677 sales and 2.3%, its highest ranking since December 2010! The Mercedes E-Class also shines, up 11 ranks to #9 at 5,150 units and 1.8%, its first time in the Top 10 since November 2011.

2013 Mercedes E-Class

The VW Up! is back up 12 spots to land in 12th position with an excellent 4,743 sales and 1.7%. After the Skoda Octavia peaked at #9 in March, this month no foreign model manages to rank within the German Top 20. The Octavia leads the charge again at #21 followed by the Skoda Fabia (#23), Fiat Ducato (#24) more than ever boosted by motorhome sales, Seat Ibiza (#29) and Seat Leon/Altea/Toledo (#30).

Peugeot 2008

The two new Opels continue to progress, both reaching best-ever rankings this month: the Mokka is up 6 ranks to #29 while the Adam is up 12 to #37. The Dacia Sandero new generation has struck a chord with German consumers: it is up 22 spots to #39 with 2,139 sales and should rank much higher in the private sales charts. Notice also the Peugeot 208 up 15 ranks to #43, the VW Beetle up 19 to #46 and the Mercedes CLA up a whopping 65 spots to #61.

Further down, the Mitsubishi Mirage is up 49 ranks to #80 and the Opel Cascada up a round 100 ranks to #117. We  welcome three new models in the German ranking this month: the Peugeot 2008 at #204 with 101 sales, the Renault Zoe at #255 and 28 units and the Chevrolet Trax at #266 with 21 sales.

Previous post: Germany private sales March 2013: Mercedes E-Class and Opel Mokka up

Previous month: Germany March 2013: Skoda Octavia hits highest ever ranking

One year ago: Germany April 2012: BMW 3 Series at highest in 4 years

Full April 2013 Top 300 All-models and Top 50 All-brands Ranking Tables below.

Read more…

2013 Mercedes E-Class

* See the Top 40 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to JKLN *

As is now the tradition, after going through overall German sales for March, let’s now have a look at the private sales (PS)  ranking. As usual it paints a very different picture. Volkswagen is still dominant with the Golf, Polo and Tiguan in the lead like last month, while Mercedes brilliantly places the A-Class at #4 (+3) and the B-Class at #5 (-1). The BMW 1 Series is back up 3 spots to #6 followed by the Skoda Fabia (-2), Ford Fiesta (+12), and BMW 3 Series, up 10 ranks to #9 even though its PS ratio is at a very low 27%.

Opel Mokka

Further down, Mercedes impresses again with the C-Class up 5 spots to #10 and the E-Class up 10 ranks to an impressive 12th spot with a strong (for this segment) 44% PS ratio and well above the #20 it holds in the overall ranking. Other great performers include the Opel Mokka up 12 spots to #14 and 71% PSs ratio, the Dacia Sandero up to #25 with an out-of-this-world 90% PS ratio and the Dacia Duster up to #31 and 80% PS ratio.

Dacia Sandero

Other strong private sales ratios are delivered by the Toyota Auris (78%), Ford B-Max (70%), Toyota Yaris (69%), Skoda Yeti and Roomster, both at 68%. On the other end of the scale, the Opel Astra is at a paltry 23% and the VW Golf, Audi A3 and Ford Focus are all at 29%. Finally it is interesting to note that the Skoda Octavia’s record performance in the overall market is not due to private sales as these only account for 33% of its total amount for the month.

Previous month: Germany Private Sales February 2013: Renault Twingo in Top 10!

Previous year: Germany Private Sales Full Year 2012: Toyota Yaris and VW Up! shine

Overall market: Germany March 2013: Skoda Octavia hits highest ranking ever

Full March 2013 Top 40 Ranking Table below.

Read more…

Skoda Octavia

* See the Top 280 All-models ranking by clicking on the title! *

That’s it. The heavyweight of European new car sales is now officially in recession: the German market is down a horrid 17% year-on-year in March to 281,184 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 673,957 units, down 13% or 100,000 units on 2012… The VW Golf holds tight on its pole position and improves its market share to 7.8% thanks to 21,969 sales. Excellent showing of the BMW 3 Series up one spot on February to #2 at 6,830 units and 2.4%. This is the second time in the last 12 months (after April 2012) the 3 Series hits the 2nd spot overall and only the third time in the last 4 years (since December 2008). The VW Polo rounds up the podium ahead of the Passat with the Tiguan at a solid #6.

BMW 3 Series

Very strong month for the BMW 1 Series up 10 ranks on February to reach #5 with 5,964 sales and 2.1%, its 4th time in the German Top 5 in the last 12 months. The Mercedes A-Class at #7 (+1), Audi A3 at #8 (+5) and Ford Fiesta at #10 (+13) also hold very well. But the big event in the Top 10 is the Skoda Octavia up 7 spots on last month to land at a best-ever #9 with 5,098 units and 1.8%, a ranking it also reached last September. Seems like the new generation is already having a positive impact. Can the Octavia break into the Top 5? Answer in the next few months…

Fiat Ducato: coming to you all across Europe this summer (but mainly in Spain and Croatia)…

Far below the Octavia, there are 7 additional foreign models in the Top 30 this month: the Skoda Fabia at #21, Nissan Qashqai at #22 (+9), Seat Ibiza at #25 (+7), Seat Leon/Altea/Toledo – KBA unfortunately doesn’t separate sales of these 3 models – at #26 (+9), Renault Twingo at #27 (-1), Hyundai i30 at #28 (-9) and Fiat Ducato at an impressive 30th position with 2,793 sales (+23), which I suspect is the first batch of motorhomes sold in anticipation of the European summer already…

Opel Adam

Futher down, the two all-new Opel models are starting to get traction: the Mokka is up 12 ranks to #35 with 2,314 sales and 0.8% and the Adam breaks into the Top 50 for the first time at #49 with 1,723 units and 0.6%, up 48 spots on February. Notice also the Mercedes CLA up 50 ranks to #126 and the all-new Mitsubishi Mirage landing directly at #128.

Previous post: Germany: 1946-2012 More detailed Historical Data now available!

Previous month: Germany February 2013: VW Tiguan and Hyundai i30 impress

One year ago: Germany March 2012: VW Polo above 10,000 units, BMW 1 Series #5

Full March 2013 Top 280 All-models Ranking Table below.

Read more…

VW Beetle

* See 41 Historical Posts covering 1946-2012 by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Florian *

UPDATE 1: 2010 and 2011 rankings now feature Golf/Golf Plus/Jetta and Mini/Countryman splits.

UPDATE 2: There is now more data available between 1966 and 1971.

I have now uploaded detailed Historical Data for Germany running from 1946 to 2012. From 1979 onwards there is a Top 100 models ranking – yes that’s 33 years up to today! And from 2005 to 2010 you can now see the split sales of the VW Golf and Golf Plus, a very rare piece of info you won’t find anywhere else… Plus I don’t think you will find more detailed German data on any other website! This is the result of 3 full months of work and the generosity of Florian.

The West German market was dominated by the VW Beetle from 1946 to 1973, passing the 100,000 annual units for the first time in 1954, the 200,000 in 1959 and hitting its best-ever volume in 1961 at 348,929 units sold for a record 31.9% market share that year.

Mercedes W123

In 1974, the Mercedes Strich 8 took advantage of a wobbly passing of relay between the VW Beetle and Golf to finish the year in pole position with 140,127 sales. Then from 1975 to 1979 the new VW Golf established its leadership, peaking at 257,673 units in 1979, before Mercedes hit again in 1980, placing the W123 atop the German ranking with 202,253 sales.

VW Golf III

Since 1981, six generations of VW Golf have dominated the German models ranking. The second and third generation have been the most successful, with the Golf II peaking at 378,856 sales in 1987 and the Golf III establishing an all-time record of 414,132 units sold in a single year, 1992. The fifth gen was the weakest, dropping to 148,879 sales and 4.3% share in 2006.

Trabant

There is much less info available for East Germany, only that the legendary Trabant and Wartburg dominated the roads for the good part of the 41 years of existence of the country.

Opel Rekord

Witness also the success of the Opel Rekord, the 2nd car to pass the 100,000 annual sales mark in Germany in 1959, the Opel Kadett, launched in 1962 and peaking at 261,308 sales for its very last year of existence in 1991, the VW Passat, the only other VW to pass the 200,000 annual sales mark (in 1991), Ford 17M, Audi 80, Opel Astra, the only nameplate to go beyond 300,000 sales in Germany for its first year in 1992, the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes C Class, Audi A4 and many more…

Click on ‘Read more’ below the Wartburg pic for the direct links to these 41 posts!.

Wartburg

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Renault Twingo

* See the Top 40 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to JKLN *

After going through overall German sales for February, let’s now have a look at what cars German consumers really like (and not rental companies or fleet)… As usual it is a very different picture, notably with a lot more foreigners close to the top and a few newcomers more successful than originally thought. Volkswagen is even stronger with the Golf, Polo and Tiguan on the podium and the Up! at #10. The Mercedes B-Class remains at an excellent 4th place while the Skoda Fabia shines at #5 vs. #21 overall, ahead of the Smart Fortwo at #6 vs. #25 and an excellent 71% Private Sales ratio.

Toyota Auris

But the biggest performance this month is potentially delivered by the Renault Twingo, up to a fantastic #8 spot thanks to 1,317 sales and 57% PS ratio. The Seat Ibiza continues to impress at #12 and 63% PS, the new generation Toyota Auris is very successful with private buyers in Germany: it is up to #13 vs. #39 overall with 1,040 units and 73% PS ratio, the highest in the Top 40. Notice also the Skoda Yeti at #17 vs. #44 and the Ford B-Max at #18 vs. #50, both at a very high 70% PS ratio. Further down, the Opel Mokka ranks #26 vs. #47 overall and the Kia Cee’d is #28 vs. #43.

Previous month: Germany Private Sales January 2013: Seat Ibiza and Mazda CX-5 up

Previous year: Germany Private Sales Full Year 2012: Toyota Yaris and VW Up! shine

Overall market: Germany February 2013: VW Tiguan and Hyundai i30 impress

Full February 2013 Top 40 models Ranking Table below.

Read more…

Hyundai i30

* See the Top 274 best-selling models and Top 50 All-brands by clicking on the title! *

The German new car market is down a rather painful 11% year-on-year in February to 200,683 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 392,773 units, down 10% on 2012. The Top 5 most popular models stay unchanged compared to January: the VW Golf leads at 7.4% share ahead of the VW Passat at 2.7% while the BMW 3 Series manages a third consecutive month within the German podium thanks to 4,810 sales and 2.4% and the VW Polo is #4.

VW Tiguan

Another outstanding month for the VW Tiguan: it equals the best-ever ranking it reached last month at #5 with 4,278 units and 2.1%. The Mercedes A-Class is down 2 spots to a still very impressive 8th place, the Skoda Octavia leads ‘foreign’ models at #16 but the biggest performer this month among imports is without contest the Hyundai i30: after ranking #16 last December, it is back up 14 ranks on last month to land in 19th place with 2,848 sales and 1.4%. Notice also the Renault Twingo up 20 spots to #20, Renault Clio up 9 to #29, Fiat 500 up 2 to #30 and Hyundai ix35 up 9 to #34.

Jaguar F-Type

Further down, the Toyota Auris is up 24 ranks to #39 thanks to the new model, the VW Beetle is up 7 to a best-ever (for this generation) #42, the Opel Mokka and Ford B-Max both break into the German Top 50 for the first time, up 13 to #47 and up 14 to #50 respectively. Notice also the Opel Adam down 29 to #97, Mercedes CLA-Class up 12 to #176, Opel Cascada up 29 to #195 and the Jaguar F-Type landing directly at #219 with 63 units sold for its first month in market.

Previous month: Germany January 2013: VW Tiguan breaks into Top 5 for the first time

One year ago: Germany February 2012: VW Polo, Tiguan and Audi A6 strong

Full February 2013 Top 274 models and Top 50 All-brands Ranking Tables below.

Read more…

VW Tiguan

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 268 All-models and Top 45 All-brands! Click on title to see *

New car sales in Germany are down 9% year-on-year to 192,090 registrations in January. Now that the 7th generation of the model is established, the VW Golf gains 2.5 percentage points of share market compared to December to 7.6% at 14,584 sales, which is nearly 3 times the score of the #2 model, the VW Passat at 5,202 units and 2.7%. The BMW 3 Series maintains itself inside the podium for the 2nd month in a row and the third time in the last 12 months at #3 with 4,663 sales and 2.4% just ahead the VW Polo at 4,623 units. The best performer in January is the VW Tiguan, breaking into the German monthly Top 5 for the very first time at #5 with 4,489 sales and a record 2.3% share.

VW Up!

The Mercedes A-Class manages to stay at a best-ever (for the 2nd generation) 6th place at 4,233 units and 2.2% while the B-Class is up 8 ranks on December to #7 with 4,048 sales and 2.1%, pushing Mercedes above 10% share and #2 brand overall this month. The VW Up! is up 9 spots to a best-ever #11 and equals its record market share at 1.7% thanks to 3,295 units sold. Notice also the Smart Fortwo up a massive 28 ranks on December to #20. If we exclude the Skoda Octavia at #17, Skoda Fabia at #21 and Seat Ibiza at #26, all owned by the Volkswagen Group, there is simply no foreign model in the German Top 30 this month…

Opel Adam

Further down, the Kia Cee’d is up 15 spots to #38, the Mercedes ML-Class up 20 to #40 and two models break into the German Top 50 for the first time this month: the Mazda CX-5 up 34 ranks to #44 and the new generation VW Beetle up 32 to #49. Among recent launches, the Opel Mokka is up two spots to #60, the Opel Adam makes its first appearance in the Top 100 at #68 (+133), the Skoda Rapid up 40 to #94, the Range Rover up 60 to #144 thanks to the new model and the Mercedes CLA-Class up 106 to #188.

Previous post: Germany Full Year 2012: Mercedes B-Class and VW Tiguan break records

Previous month: Germany December 2012: BMW 1 Series up to best-ever #2!

One year ago: Germany January 2012: Audi A6 and VW Tiguan hit highest ranking

Full January 2013 Top 268 All-models and Top 35 All-brands Ranking Tables below.

Read more…

Seat Ibiza

* See the Top 20 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to JKLN *

It’s German-fest today and thanks to JKLN I can share with you what German consumers really bought in in January now that we have gone through the best-sellers to private buyers over the Full Year 2012. No change in pole position: the VW Golf is still in the lead, however its Private Sales ratio falls to 31% this month. The VW Tiguan brilliantly takes the 2nd spot with 2,325 sales to private buyers but also sees its PS ratio drop to 52%, and the VW Polo rounds up a podium 100% Volkswagen at 2,191 units but its 47% PS ratio is was down from 62% in 2012…

Mazda CX-5

The Mercedes B-Class and A-Class follow, and for the latter it’s a 10 spot gain compared to its FY2012 ranking. Great month for the Smart Fortwo, up from #12 in 2012 to #6 in January with 1,598 sales and a very strong 68% PS ratio. Other great performers include the Seat Ibiza up to #9 vs. #16 in 2012, the Audi Q3 up to #12 vs. #20, Ford Focus up to #14 vs. #25, the Mazda CX-5 up to #17 at 772 units and 59% PS ratio whereas it didn’t rank in the 2012 Top 40 and the Renault Twingo up to #19 vs. #33 in 2012.

Previous post: Germany Private Sales Full Year 2012: Toyota Yaris and VW Up! shine

Overall market: Germany January 2013: VW Tiguan breaks into Top 5 for the first time

Full January 2013 Top 20 Ranking Table below.

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The Toyota Yaris just stopped short of the Top 10 with Germany private buyers.

* See the Top 40 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to JKLN *

Thanks to JKLN I am able to share with you a full Top 40 models ranking to private buyers in Germany and once again it is a fascinating ranking, because extremely different from the usual successful models we are used to see in Germany. And these are what people really buy! The VW Golf is still on top but with a relatively low 32% Private Sales ratio at 76,302 sales, and is followed by the VW Polo at 47,128 units and a strong 62% PS ratio. The two models breaking records last year in the overall ranking find themselves doing even better with private buyers: the Mercedes B-Class is up from #7 to #3 with private buyers with 37,672 sales and 63% PS ratio, and the VW Tiguan is up from #11 to #4 at 31,589 units and 57% PS ratio.

The VW Up! is… well up to #7 with private buyers

The BMW 1 Series is doing extremely well with private buyers: up from #8 to #5 with 25,296 sales compared to the Audi A3 falling down from #18 to #32 at only 25% PS ratio. Launched this year, the VW Up! is an instant success with Germany private buyers: up from #20 to #7 at 23,906 units. If in the general ranking there are only 5 foreign models in the Top 30 (and 2 if we exclude VAG-owned Skoda and Seat), private buyers are much more fond of exoticism and place : the Skoda Fabia is up from #20 to #8, the Skoda Octavia up from #17 to #9 and the Toyota Yaris up from #38 to #11 at an excellent 72% PS ratio.

Only 10% of VW Passats sold in Germany in 2012 were sold to private buyers.

If we only look at the Private Sales ratio, the best performer in the Top 40 is the Dacia Sandero at 89% (#29) followed by the Dacia Duster at 84% (#18). Also doing well are the Skoda Yeti at 69% (#22), Audi Q3 at 61% (#20), Hyundai ix35 at 61% also (#31) and the Smart Fortwo at 60% (#12). On the other end of the spectrum, only 1 in 10 VW Passats sold in Germany are bought by private buyers, down from #2 to #38, while the Audi A4 (16%), BMW 5 Series (17%) and BMW 3 Series (22%) also not a hit with private buyers.

Previous post: Germany Full Year 2012: Mercedes B-Class and VW Tiguan break records

Previous month: Germany December 2012: BMW 1 Series up to best-ever #2!

Previous Private Sales post: Germany Private Sales August 2012: Audi Q3 #6, Dacia Duster #9

Full Year 2012 Top 40 models Ranking Table below.

Read more…