Austria May 2017: VW Group monopolises Top 6 in market up 13.9%

VW Bus sales are up 88% year-on-year in Austria in May.

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

A very solid month for new car sales in Austria, up 13.9% year-on-year to 32.426 units, lifting the year-to-date tally up 9.5% to 151.120 units. The two brand leaders advance faster than the market: Volkswagen is up 16% to 17.6% share and Skoda is up 24% to 7.7% but Opel struggles in third place at -24%. Ford (+12%), BMW (+14%) and Renault (+9%) follow, while Seat (+25%) and Mercedes (+60%) post the largest year-on-year gains inside the Top 10. Beyond, a healthy 17 manufacturers beat the market growth, with Mazda (+50%), Dacia (+56%), Suzuki (+69%), Alfa Romeo (+101%), Maserati (+117%), Lexus (+157%) and Tesla (+440%) among the best performers.

The VW Group monopolises the first six spots in the models ranking in May. The VW Golf holds on to its traditional pole position despite an 8% drop, the the Skoda Octavia (+0.4%) is up two spots on last month to #2, overtaking the VW Polo (+30% as stocks of the outgoing generation are starting to get cleared) and VW Tiguan, still boosted by the new generation at +46%. The VW Bus (aka Transporter) shoots up 88% now that the T6 model is well established and the Skoda Fabia gains 36% in 6th place. The Opel Astra is the best-selling non-VW nameplate at #7 but drops 24%. It is followed by the Hyundai i20 up a splendid 40%. The VW Group adds four nameplates in the Top 12: the VW Passat, Touran (+23%), Seat Leon (+34%) and Ibiza. Inside the Top 50, notice also the BMW 5 Series up 132%, the Mercedes A-Class up 188%, Fiat Tipo up 679%, Hyundai i10 up 178% and Mercedes GLC up 153%. The Audi Q2 breaks into the Austrian Top 50 for the first time.

Previous month: Austria April 2017: VW Polo and Renault Megane shine in market down 2.9%

One year ago: Austria May 2016: Hyundai Tucson back inside Top 10

Full May 2017 Top 50 All-brands and Top 300 All-models below.