Switzerland March 2015: Skoda Octavia takes the lead year-to-date

The Skoda Octavia is now the best-selling nameplate in Switzerland for 2015.

* See the Top 37 All-brands and Top 350 All-models by clicking on the title *

Thanks to sales up by a bright 20% year-on-year in March to 31,487 units, the Swiss new car market finishes the first quarter 2015 in positive at +6% to 72,275 deliveries. Once again Volkswagen underperforms (+5%) but stays in the lead at 3,385 sales, followed by Mercedes up a spectacular 50% to 2,546 units, Skoda up 37% to 2,417 and BMW up 33% to 2,230. Notice also Renault up 50% to #7, Citroen up 30% to #9, Hyundai up 28% to #11, Subaru up 62% to #15, Fiat up 47% to #16, Mitsubishi up 104% and Porsche up 110%. In the models ranking, the Volkswagen Group can claim a cannibalistic victory with the Skoda Octavia taking the overall lead year-to-date over the VW Golf thanks to a 2nd month in pole position with 1,519 sales and 4.8% share vs. 1,131 and 3.6% for the Golf. First quarter tallies are 3,414 and 3,050 respectively, so a solid advantage for the Octavia for now.

47 Mercedes AMG GT S found a buyer in Switzerland in March.

The Top 5 best-sellers are unchanged on February and year-to-date, with the VW Polo rounding up the podium at just 2% share, and all 346 other nameplates at 1.6% share or less, Switzerland confirming its title of most fragmented car market in the world. The Mercedes C-Class ranks 4th, the Audi A3 5th, the Renault Clio is up 17 spots on February to #7, the Suzuki Swift up 8 to #9, the Mercedes GLA is extremely robust again at #15, the Opel Corsa is up 20 ranks to #17, the Subaru Forester up 56 to #26, Suzuki SX4 S-Cross up 29 to #30 and the BMW 2 Series up 30 to #32. Further down, the Fiat 500X is up to #52, the Suzuki Vitara lands at #82 with 147 sales and the Mercedes AMG GT S ranks #158 with 47 units sold.

Previous month: Switzerland February 2015: Skoda Octavia one step above VW Golf

One year ago: Switzerland March 2014: Mazda3 up, Mercedes GLA at world-best

Full March 2015 Top 37 All-brands and Top 350 All-models below.