2015 (Q1) Germany: Best-Selling Car Manufacturers, Brands and Models

Volkswagen Sport Coupe Concept GTE Geneva Auto Show 2015In the first quarter of 2015, Volkswagen remained Germany’s largest carmaker and best-selling brand. The VW Golf was the top-selling car model. New passenger vehicle registrations in Germany increased by 6.4% to 757,630 cars during the first three months of 2015. VW accounted for half of the extra cars sold in Germany and increased market share to over 22%. Volkswagen was again followed by Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW and Opel.

The German Car Market in 2015 (Q1)

New passenger vehicle registrations in Germany increased during the first quarter of 2015 by 6.4% to 757,630 cars compared to 711,753 cars registered during the first three months of 2014. The total German new vehicle market grew by 6.2% to 883,514 registrations.

Best-Selling Car Brands in Germany in 2015 (Q1)

The top-selling car marques in Germany during the first three months of 2015 according to car sales statistics released by the KBA were:

q1/2015 Brand Q1/2015 %Share %Change
Total 757,630 100 6.4
1 VW 169,058 22.3 13.8
2 Mercedes 65,878 8.7 3.7
3 Audi 65,627 8.7 6.8
4 BMW 59,000 7.8 4.9
5 Opel 51,584 6.8 3.2
6 Ford 50,617 6.7 2.8
7 Skoda 42,111 5.6 2.4
8 Renault 22,907 3 -8.3
9 Hyundai 22,653 3 10.1
10 Seat 21,491 2.8 4.4
11 Nissan 18,220 2.4 5.4
12 Fiat 16,728 2.2 10.1
13 Toyota 15,541 2.1 -9.5
14 Mazda 15,314 2 0.2
15 Peugeot 12,999 1.7 -0.1
16 Citroen 12,561 1.7 -0.4
17 Kia 12,451 1.6 -1.7
18 Dacia 10,672 1.4 -6.6
19 Suzuki 9,426 1.2 42.7
20 Smart 9,377 1.2 49.5
21 Mini 8,737 1.2 18.7
22 Volvo 7,620 1 7.8
23 Mitsubishi 7,467 1 57.5
24 Porsche 7,107 0.9 36
25 Honda 6,011 0.8 8.3
26 Land Rover 4,333 0.6 5.2
27 Jeep 3,380 0.4 90.9
28 Subaru 1,862 0.2 -4.8
29 Jaguar 962 0.1 -29.6
30 Alfa Romeo 753 0.1 -9.2
31 Lexus 410 0.1 36.7
32 Lancia 223 0 -29.7
33 Chevrolet 134 0 -96.6
Others 4,416 0.6

Top Ten Best-Selling Car Marques in Germany in 2015 (Q1)

There were only few changes in the order of the top ten best-selling car brands in Germany during the first quarter of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014.

Volkswagen remained by far the largest carmaker in Germany but its performance was spectacular. In 2014, VW underperformed the broader market by a full 2% during the first quarter of the year. However, during the first three months of 2015, the growth in new VW registrations were more than double that of the general German car market. Volkswagen was by far the most-improved brand amongst the top-ten marques.

Volkswagen increased its market share from 20.9% during the first quarter of 2014 to 22.3% in 2015 to account for nearly half of all the additional cars sold in Germany during the first three months of 2015. VW was helped by new models including an all-new Passat launched towards the end of 2014, an expansion of the Golf model range and an update of the Polo.

The so-called premium brands Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW maintained their relative positions. Although all registered growth, only Audi outperformed the market to gain market share. Audi ended the quarter only 250 cars behind Mercedes-Benz – a year ago the difference was over 2,000.

Opel, Ford and Skoda similarly retained their relative rank positions with below market average growth. VW-owned Skoda remained the favorite imported car brand in Germany.

Renault’s woes in Germany continued with the only top brand selling fewer cars during the first quarter of 2015 compared to a year ago. The French carmaker was only around 250 cars ahead of Hyundai, which had the strongest performance of the top producers apart from VW.

VW-owned Seat and Hyundai swapped positions – the only change amongst the top ten best-selling car brands in Germany during the first three months of 2015. A year ago, Seat was only 13 cars ahead of Hyundai.

Best-Selling Car Brands in Germany in 2015 (Q1)

A few salient figures from the German car sales statistics for the first three months of 2015:

  • The fastest growing brands were Jeep, Mitsubishi, Smart and Suzuki. Smart benefiting from the launch of the new Smart model at the end of 2014.
  • The worst performers were Chevrolet, which has withdrawn from the European car market, followed by Lancia and Jaguar.
  • The Fiat Group has established Jeep as its second brand. Fiat itself had strong growth while Alfa Romeo and Lancia are slipping into insignificance.
  • Toyota, Renault and Kia were the worst performers of the top-20 largest brands while Peugeot, Citroen and Kia sales were marginally weaker with all losing market share in an expanding market.

The Volkswagen Golf easily maintained its traditional position as Germany’s favorite car model.

About the author:

Henk Bekker

Henk Bekker is a freelance writer with over 20 years of experience in online writing. His best-selling cars website has been reporting car sales statistics since 2008 with classic car auction prices focusing on the most expensive automobiles sold at public auctions in the past decade. He also owns the travel websites European-Traveler.com and Lake Geneva Switzerland. Henk holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and an MSc in Finance from the University of London.