Germany February 2015: BMW 2 Series breaks into Top 20

The BMW 2 Series is up to #16 in February at home in Germany.

* See the Top 50 best-selling brands and Top 308 models by clicking on the title *

Germany, Europe’s largest new car market, is up a very satisfying 7% year-on-year in February to 223,254 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 434,591 units, up 5% on 2014. It’s a solid start of 2015 in Germany indeed. Not only does Volkswagen sell 2.5 times more than any other brand at home, it is also the fastest-growing brand in the Top 15 this month with sales up 18% on a year ago to 50,143 units. Audi (+5%) and BMW (+13%) both overtake Mercedes to rank #2 with 9.2% and #3 with 8.1% respectively, while Ford passes Opel to #5. Seat (+9%), Hyundai (+14%) and Nissan (+13%) are the other manufacturers in the Top 15 to outperform the market. Jeep (+97%), Lexus (+63%), Ssangyong (+52%), Smart (+43%) and Honda (+39%) also impress.

The new model pushes VW Passat sales up 51% year-on-year.

For the first time since last October, Volkswagen monopolises the podium with the Golf (+29%), Passat (+51%) and Polo (+16%) in the lead. In fact, the Top 6 best-selling models frankly outperform the market, with the Audi A3 (+17%), Mercedes C-Class and Skoda Octavia (both at +15%) following. The VAG Group trusts 7 spots in the Top 8, also placing the VW Tiguan at #7 and the Audi A4 at #8. The Ford Focus is up 10 spots on January but down 5% year-on-year at #9 and the BMW 2 Series slices its record ranking in two at #16 with 3,247 sales, mainly due to the Active Tourer variant which outsells its rival the Mercedes B-Class (#25) for the very first time.

The 500X helps the Fiat 500 nameplate remain inside the German Top 30.

The Seat Leon continues on its outstanding run at #17, the Opel Mokka is up 27% on a year ago to #23, and the Nissan Qashqai (#28) and Fiat 500 (#30) are the only “true” foreigners in the Top 30 this month, removing Skoda and Seat nameplates. Solid progressions for the Ford Kuga (+56%), Opel Adam (+47%), Hyundai ix35 (+49%), BMW 4 Series (+126%), Ford Mondeo (+44%) and Suzuki Swift (+128%). Recent launches mark a pause this month: the Mercedes V-Class is down 4 spots on January to #58, the Smart Forfour down 11 to #78, the Nissan Pulsar down 16 to #91 and the Citroen C4 Cactus down two to #103.

Previous month: Germany January 2015: Mercedes B-Class and Mini up

One year ago: Germany February 2014: VW monopolises Top 4 for 2nd time in 77 year-history

Full February 2015 Top 50 brands and Top 308 models below.