Germany January 2018: VW above 20% share, T-Roc weak, market up 11.6%

The VW T-Roc hasn’t yet cracked the Top 50 at home. Picture autobild.de

* See the Top 50 brands and Top 320 models by clicking on the title *

The German new car market starts 2018 with a fantastic 11.6% year-on-year gain in January – almost 30.000 additional units – to 269.429 registrations. 5 of the Top 6 best-selling carmakers trail the market though, with the Top 10 identical to the FY2017 order. Volkswagen gains 10% to 20.2%, its first time above 20% in one year,  Mercedes is up 8% to 9.8%, Audi down 3% to 7.8% and BMW up 2% to 7.7%. Hyundai (+30%), Renault (+24%), Seat (+24%), Skoda (+17%) and Ford (+16%) post the largest year-on-year improvements in the Top 10. Below, Alfa Romeo (+64%), Cadillac (+58%), Jeep (+42%), Kia (+41%), Rolls Royce (+38%), Lada (+37%), Porsche (+37%), Toyota (+37%), Peugeot (+34%), Lamborghini (+31%), Dacia (+29%), Land Rover (+26%), Citroen (+25%), Smart (+23%) all at least double the market’s growth.

The BMW 5 Series is up 122% in January thanks to the new generation. 

Model-wise, the VW Golf (+31%) impresses with a 4th consecutive month of double-digit gains, followed by the Tiguan (+11%) and Passat (-12%), Volkswagen monopolising the podium like it did over the FY2017. The rest of the Top 7 is identical to the FY2017 order: Mercedes C-Class (-1%), VW Polo (-5%), Audi A4 (+12%) and Skoda Octavia (+14%). The BMW 5 Series (+122%), Mercedes GLC (+65%), Ford Focus (+63%), BMW 1 Series (+54%), Ford Kuga (+52%) and Audi A6 (+34%) post the largest gains in the Top 15.

The Dacia Sandero is the #1 “true” foreigner in Germany this month. 

Further down, the Dacia Sandero (+40%) is the best-selling “true” foreigner at #28 (removing Skoda and Seat nameplates), with the Citroen C3 (+98%), Audi Q2 (+92%), Opel Insignia (+83%), Mazda CX-5 (+76%) and Renault Captur (+48%) also making themselves noticed in the Top 50. The Opel Crossland X (#49) is the only recent launch (<12 months) inside the Top 50 this month, with the VW T-Roc up 59 spots on December to a lukewarm 57th place, nowhere near the levels it has already reached in markets such as Austria (#6). The Opel Grandland X is up 22 ranks on last month to #66, the Skoda Karoq up 24 to #74, the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross up 203 to #82, the VW Arteon up 26 to #101, the Seat Arona up 68 to #103, the Kia Stonic up one to #106 and the Hyundai Kona up 52 to #110.

Previous post: Germany Full Year 2017: VW places Golf, Passat and Tiguan on podium

One year ago: Germany January 2017: Mercedes above 10%, BMW X1 up to record #7

Full January 2018 Top 50 brands and Top 320 models below.