Germany May 2012: Mercedes B-Class hits highest ranking ever – VW Up! in Top 20 for the first time, hurts Polo

Mercedes B-Class

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In May the German new car market is down 5% year-on-year to 289,977 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 1,337,679 units, up just 0.3% on 2011. The VW Golf predictably holds the top spot at 7.6% share but the rest of the Top 10 is reshuffled. The VW Passat reclaims the #2 it held over the Full Year 2011 both this month and year-to-date at 2.9%. Helped by sales of the GTC version, the Opel Astra is up 2 spots on April to #3 at 7,410 units, followed by the BMW 3 Series at 7,052 and the Mercedes C-Class at 6,959.

The best performer this month is the Mercedes B-Class up 6 ranks to a fantastic 6th place with 6,006 sales and 2.1% share. This is by far the highest ranking the B-Class has ever reached in Germany since the nameplate launched in 2005, its previous record being #9 in March 2011. It is only the 4th time ever the B-Class sells upwards of 6,000 units in a single month, after March 2006 (6,272), November 2006 (6,364) and March 2011 (6,212). Finally it is the B-Class second best market share with its record still standing at 2.2% in August 2006.

VW Up!

The VW Up! also shines in May and breaks into the German Top 20 for the very first time at #19 thanks to 4,449 sales for a 1.5% market share. The Up! seems to eat into its big sister Polo’s sales, with the latter down a worrying 4 spots to #8, its worst ranking in the country since September 2009. Notice also the Audi A4 up 7 ranks to #9, its first time in the Top 10 since last October. The ranking is more than ever dominated by locals: if we count Skoda and Seat as local brands (controversial I know), there are only 2 foreign models in the Top 40! The Fiat Ducato is #27 and the Nissan Qashqai #39…

VW Beetle

Three models break into the German Top 100 for the first time this month: the VW Beetle new generation up 50 spots to #72 with 1,046 sales, the Seat Mii up 59 to #89 and 779 units and the Skoda Citigo up 121 to #91 with 761 sales. There are also 3 newcomers in the ranking: the Peugeot 4008 at #181 and 169 units, the Lexus GS at #225 with 56 sales and the Lancia Fulvia at #260 and 24 units.

Previous month: Germany April 2012: BMW 3 Series at highest in 4 years

One year ago: Germany May 2011: VW Passat over 10,000 sales

Full May 2012 Top 300 Ranking Table below.