Germany November 2019: Fleet sales lift market up 9.7%, Ford Kuga breaks all records for 2nd straight month

Sharp fleet deals on the outgoing generation ahead of the December launch of the new model (pictured) propel the Ford Kuga to #3 in Germany.

New car sales in Germany continue to recover from particularly paltry year-ago post-WLTP sales with November registrations up 9.7% year-on-year to 299.127 units, leading to a year-to-date volume up 3.9% to 3.323.878, the largest 11-month volume in Germany since 2009. Fleet sales are almost solely responsible for the November uptick, up 14.5% to 205.799 and 68.8% share vs. 65.9% a year ago in November 2018, whereas private sales are essentially stable at +0.4% to 93.328 and 31.2% share vs. 34.1%. The year-to-date situation is even more contrasted, with fleet sales soaring 6.5% to 2.160.521 and 65% share vs. 63.4% over the same period in 2018 whereas private sales actually drop -0.6% to  1.163.357 and 35% share vs. 36.6%.

Manufacturer-wise, a large part of this month’s recovery is triggered by the VW Group (+23.6%) which struggled to put WLTP-compliant cars into market last year, but is now above its YTD share at 37.6% in November vs. 36.8% so far in 2019. Volkswagen (+27.2%) soars to 20.9% share, its highest since July 2018, Audi (+41%) shoots back up but posts a weak 6.2% share vs. 7.5% YTD and drops to #5 year-to-date, overtaken by BMW, Skoda (-3.2%) isn’t taking advantage of its plethora of new launches, Seat (+14.5%) advances to #8 and Porsche (+158.7%) is back on track.

The new CX-30 helps boost Mazda sales up 26.7% to #11 brand.

Meanwhile Mercedes (+7.5%) hits an excellent 10.9% share, its third consecutive month above 10%, and BMW (+1.6%) sticks to #3 for the third month in a row. Ford (+1.9%) edges up just as Opel (-17.3%) remains in hell at #7, outsold by Skoda for the 4th time in German history and the 3rd time in the past 4 months after July 2018, August and October 2019. Renault (+12.9%) also shines inside the Top 10 while just out, Mazda (+26.7%) advances to #11 vs. #15 YTD, its highest ranking since August 2018, Smart (+59.5%), Peugeot (+27.4%) and Dacia (+19%) post outstanding scores. Among smaller brands, Rolls Royce (+840%), Tesla (+129.5%), Ferrari (+56%), Alfa Romeo (+40.2%), DS (+36.3%) and Ssangyong (+32.7%) are among the best performers.

The Ford Puma has landed in the German charts.

The VW Golf (+16.2%) and Tiguan (+78.2%) continue to dominate the models ranking as they did in 2018 and they do year-to-date, while the Ford Kuga (+64.9%) aligns a second consecutive record-breaking month with new all-time bests of #3, 6.281 sales and 2.1% eclipsing all previous records established just last month, as the outgoing generation offers steep discounts and the new model starts arriving in dealership ahead of its December launch. Boosted by its facelift, the VW Passat (+3.4%) rallies back up 5 spots on October to #4 with the VW Polo (-2.8%) up 9 ranks to #5. The BMW 3 Series (+49.2%), Opel Corsa (+26.3%) and Mercedes GLC (+15.7%) also outpace the market in the remainder of the Top 10, with the VW T-Roc (+110.6%) lurking just outside. The VW T-Cross (#17) tops recent launches above the Skoda Scala (#64) while both the Skoda Kamiq (#85) and Mazda CX-30 (#99) break into the Top 100 for the first time. We welcome the Ford Puma at #257 and the Ferrari F8 at #308.

The VW T-Cross ranks #3 overall with German private buyers.

Over in the private sales ranking, the VW Golf posts a particularly weak score at 23% PS ratio vs. 28.6% YTD but easily remains in the lead ahead of the VW Polo (50.5%) up two spots on October and the VW T-Cross (70.5%) down just one rank on last month to brilliantly remain on the private podium at #3, scoring the highest PS ratio in the Top 10. The Mercedes A-Class (55.9%) remains very strong at #4 ahead of the VW Tiguan (23.7%), Mini lineup (46.1%), Mercedes B-Class (59.4%) up 6 spots to #7 and Ford Kuga (25.8%) down one to #8 vs. #3 including fleets. Mercedes places a third nameplate in the Private Top 10: the C-Class (27.1%) at #10. The Dacia Sandero (73.7%) is up 21 ranks on October to #12, the Skoda Kodiaq (38%) is up 14 to #17 and the BMW X3 (38.2%) up 33 to #23.

Previous month: Germany October 2019: Ford Kuga breaks into Top 5, VW T-Cross #2 with private buyers, market up 12.6%

One year ago: Germany November 2018: Mini (+28%), BMW (+12%), Mercedes (+6%) shine, VW Group (-20%) still reeling in market down -9.9%

Full November 2019 Top 50 brands, Top 310 All-models and Top 50 private sales below.