Switzerland May 2024: BMW topples VW, now #1 year-to-date

BMW 1 Series sales more than double year-on-year in May. Next generation pictured.

The Swiss new car market edges down -1.4% year-on-year in May to 21,265 sales, leading to a stable year-to-date tally at 98,529 units vs. 98,538 over the same period in 2023. 4×4 sales gain 2.6% to 11,070 and 52.1% share vs. 50% a year ago and are up 4.4% year-to-date to 51,852 and 52.6% share vs. 50.4% last year. Petrol is down -8% to 6,9881 and 32.4% share vs. 34.7% in May 2023, diesel actually jumps up 12% to 2,440 and 11.5% vs .10.1%, HEVs are up 11.8% to 6,595 and 31% share vs. 27.4%, PHEVs up 5.7% to 1,779 and 8.4% share vs. 7.8% but BEVs sink -17.3% to 3,568 and 16.8% share vs. 20% a year ago. Year-to-date BEV sales are down -4.3% to 17,171 and 17.4% share vs. 18.2% over the first five months of 2023.

BMW (+30%) sports a fantastic gain to climb up to #1 brand with 10.7% share. In the process the German manufacturer snaps the YTD top spot, toppling Volkswagen (-1.7%). Leader last month for only the 2nd time ever, Skoda (-4.6%) falls to #3 with a still strong 9.5% share. Mercedes (+7.9%) defies the negative market to rank #4 ahead of Audi (-9.3%) and Toyota (-9.8%) both weak. Volvo (+53.5%), Renault (+24.9%), Dacia (+10.8%) and Hyundai (+9.1%) also impress in the remainder of the Top 10. Tesla is down -43.3% to #16.

The Skoda Octavia (-8.5%) lodges its third monthly win of the year with 2.6% share and despite a sizeable year-on-year drop. The next four models all improve by double-digits: the Audi 3 is up 46.8% to #2, followed by the BMW X1 (+59.4%), Mercedes GLC (+93.8%) and VW Tiguan (+83.4%). The BMW 1 Series is up 110.1% year-on-year and 34 spots on April to #9, with the Dacia Sandero (+20.2%) also strong at #7. Still leader year-to-date, the Tesla Model Y (-43%) is down to #6 this month. The new Volvo EX30 is down four ranks on last month to a still outstanding 8th place and now ranks #14 year-to-date.

Previous month: Switzerland April 2024: Skoda #1 for 2nd time ever, hits record share, Volvo EX30 up to #4

One year ago: Switzerland May 2023: Skoda places three models in YTD Top 5

Full May 2024 Top 60 All brands and Top 360 All models below.