Switzerland September 2020: Mercedes hits record 11.7% share, Tesla Model 3 #1, VW ID.3 #9 in 9th straight double-digit sales fall (-11.4%)

Mercedes hits what we believe is its highest ever market share in Switzerland.

The Swiss new car market remains in the rut in September, recording a depressing 9th consecutive month of double-digit year-on-year fall at -11.4% to 21.454 units. This leads to a year-to-date volume down -27.7% to 163.556. 4×4 sales fare even worse at -13% to 10.593 and 49.4% share vs. 50.3% in September, but match the market YTD at -27.6% to 82.070 and 50.2% share vs. 50.1%. The one ray of light in Switzerland so far this year is alternatively fulled vehicle sales, up 90.9% in September to 7.484 and 34.9% share vs. 16.2% a year ago, and up 50% YTD to 39.406 and 24.1% share vs. 11.6% over the same period in 2019. In the September detail, HEV is up 64.8% to 3.131 and 14.6% share vs. 7.8%, BEV up 87.5% to 2.869 and 13.4% vs. 6.3% and PHEV up 344.4% to 1.462 and 6.8% vs. 1.4%. Year-to-date, HEV is up 39.1% to 19.694 and 12% share vs. 6.3% last year, BEV up 26.5% to 11.169 and 6.8% vs. 3.9% and PHEV up 238.3% to 8.029 and 4.9% vs. 1%.

In the brands ranking, Mercedes (+14.2%) completely bucks the negative trend, signing the only double-digit gain in the Top 5, repeating at #1 and scoring a 5th win in the past 14 months. Mercedes also reaches what we believe is a new all-time record share at 11.7%, its previous best being 10.6% last May. BMW (-3.4%) remains in 2nd place above Skoda (-10%), Volkswagen (-28.1%) in dire straits and Audi (+3.1%) which means the Top 5 brands are unchanged on August. Tesla (+37%), Volvo (+26.8%) and Renault (+16.8%) post the largest gains in the Top 10 while further down, only Alfa Romeo (+25%) and Jeep (+15.4%) stand out in a sea of double-digit losses, the hardest hit being Smart (-74.8%), Opel (-61.4%), Citroen (-55.1%), DS (-54%), Porsche (-34%), Fiat (-33.4%), Kia (-31.9%) and Land Rover (-29.6%).

Model-wise, the Tesla Model 3 (+40.6%) repeats at #1 and scores its 5th win in Switzerland, the Mercedes GLC (+82.5%) leaps up two spots on last month to a record #2, and the Skoda Octavia (-35.8%) is in great difficulty at #3 but easily retails the YTD top spot. Remarkably, the remainder of the Top 10 all score at least double-digit year-on-year gains, with the Mercedes A-Class (+10.2%) and Skoda Karoq (+16.8%) rounding out the Top 5 and the Audi Q3 (+179.7%), Renault Zoe (+68%), Volvo XC40 (+43.5%), Mercedes GLA (+24.6%) and Seat Ateca (+14.4%) also posting stellar performances below. The VW ID.3 manages its 6th Top 10 landing in Europe for the month at #9, alongside Norway (#1), Ireland (#1), Iceland (#3), Denmark (#5) and Finland (#6).

Previous month: Switzerland August 2020: Mercedes #1, places 3 models in Top 6, 8th straight double-digit market drop (-16.3%)

One year ago: Switzerland September 2019: Mercedes stays #1, Tesla Model 3 up to #2, Opel Crossland X on podium

Full September 2020 Top 51 All-brands and Top 325 All-models below.