Denmark Full Year 2018: Volkswagen and Peugeot 208 on top again in market down 1.5%

The Peugeot 208 is the best-selling vehicle in Denmark for the third straight year.

Consult over 35 years of Denmark Historical Data here.

It’s a second consecutive year of decline for Danish new car sales albeit very measured at -1.5% to 218.558 registrations, making 2018 the third largest annual volume in history below 2016 and 2017. At 132.860 units, petrol sales represent 60.8% of the market vs. 33% for diesel at 72.236, 4% for hybrids at 8.716, 1.4% for PHEVs at 3.128 and 0.7% for EVs at 1.545. 2018 is the year the SUV segment became dominant in Denmark with sales up 39.8% to 56.999 and 26.1% share vs. 18.4% last year, while small cars drop 6.9% to 51.539 and 23.6% share vs. 24.9%, compact cars drop 2.8% to 40.643 and 18.6% share vs. 18.9% and micro cars – which used to be a Danish specialty – freefall -36.6% to 25.048 and 11.5% vs. 17.8% in 2017. The leasing share of the Danish market in 2018 is 39%, down on the 42-43% average of recent years. Within this, 29% is business leasing and 10% is private leasing.  Private sales account for 52% of all Danish new car registrations in 2018.

Volkswagen (+8.2%) defies the negative surrounds to cement its stranglehold on the market at 14.6% share, increasing the gap to #2 Peugeot (-7.1%) to almost 11.500 units vs. just 7.400 last year. Toyota (-3.6%) holds onto the third spot but the next brands do move up the ladder fast: Citroen (+11.5%) and Ford (+7.3%) both gain three spots on their 2017 ranking to round up the Top 5. Mercedes (+15.1%) and Nissan (+2.1%) are also in positive in the remainder of the Top 10 while outside, Subaru (+118.8%), Jeep (+84.2%), Volvo (+51.3%), Mini (+48.7%), Jaguar (+47.5%) and BMW (+27.9%) are among the best performers.

Model-wise, the Peugeot 208 (-10.6%) stays on top for the third year in a row despite a double-digit droop sending its share down to 4%, with the Nissan Qashqai (+10.4%) and VW Golf (+0.1%) both stepping up one spot to complete the podium. The VW Polo (+16.6%) is up 3 spots to #4, the Citroen C3 (+50.2%) up 11 to #5 and the VW Touran (+14.9%) up 3 to #10. All remaining Top 10 models are down, with the VW Up (-31.5%) and Renault Clio (-13.8%) hit the hardest. Below, the VW Tiguan (+83%), Mercedes A-Class (+31.5%), C-Class (+28.8%) and Skoda Fabia (+26.3%) impress, the VW T-Roc ends its first fill year in market at #25 and the Volvo XC40 is the most popular 2018 launch at #86.

Previous month: Denmark November 2018: Mercedes C-Class surprise leader in stabilised market

Previous year: Denmark 2017: Peugeot 208 holds on to #1, market down 0.5%

Two years ago: Denmark 2016: Peugeot 208 ends VW Up reign in record market

Full Year 2018 Top 65 All-brands and Top 380 All-models vs. Full Year 2017 figures below.

Full December 2018 Top 40 All-brands and Top 215 All-models below.