Germany 1991: East & West reunite, VW Golf and Opel Kadett lead

Opel Kadett

* See the Top 100 best-selling models by clicking on the title! Thanks to Florian for the data *

This year we have access for the first and last time to separate rankings for West and East Germany before both are counted as one country. Overall figures for the new reunited Germany are very impressive: 4,185,674 registrations, including 3,428,601 in the West (+13%!) and 757,073 in the East.

Added to this is the launch of the 3rd generation VW Golf at the end of the year and the replacement of the Opel Kadett by the Opel Astra at the same time and you have a pretty eventful year for the German market…

The VW Golf II keeps the lead in the general ranking with 328,651 sales and 7.9% share, and 12 of the following 15 models best their all time record in terms of volume! The Opel Kadett ranks 2nd at 261,308 units or 6.2%, the VW Passat becomes the 5th nameplate (after the VW Beetle, Golf, Mercedes W123 and Opel Kadett) to sell upwards of 200,000 units in a single year with 210,921 sales and 5% and the Opel Vectra is up 30% at 185,736 units.

Withe the Mercedes 200/300 at #5, the general ranking’s Top 5 reflects the West German ranking faithfully but East Germans have different tastes…

Renault 19

In East Germany the best-selling model in 1991 is the Opel Kadett with 62,866 sales (8.3%). The Renault 19 manages an amazing 2nd place at 43,944 sales (5.8%), making it the best-selling foreign model in the whole of Germany at #12 with a record 97,262 sales, the highest volume ever achieved by a foreign model in Germany in a single year – and the Renault Clio is #2 foreign model at #16 and 82,279 units. The VW Golf II takes the 3rd spot in East Germany (5.4%), and the Lada Samara ranks 5th (3.7%).

Other models to beat their record this year include the Ford Escort at 131,707 sales (#7), the Ford Fiesta at 130,923 units (#8), the BMW 3 Series with 125,472 sales (#9), the VW Polo at 123,079 units (#10) and the Opel Corsa with 98,865 sales (#11).

The arrival of the VW Golf III and Opel Astra throws the German ranking into a spin: the VW Passat manages to hold the pole position in December 1991 for the first time ever with 13,943 sales and a whopping 7.9% share, ahead of the Opel Astra (13,660) and the VW Golf III (11,064).

Full Germany Top 100, West Germany Top 30 & East Germany Top 40 Ranking Tables below.