2013 (Half Year) Switzerland: Best-Selling Car Brands and Models

Volkswagen and Audi remained the top-selling automobile makes in Switzerland during the first half of 2013. The VW Golf was the most popular car model.

Volkswagen Stand at the Geneva Auto Salon 2013

The Swiss car market contracted by 12% during the first six months of 2013. Volkswagen remained the strongest car brand in Switzerland despite weak sales. VW was followed by the German luxury brand manufacturers Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. The Volkswagen Golf again easily outsold the Skoda Octavia as Switzerland’s favorite car model.

The Swiss Automobile Market in 2013 (First Half)

The Swiss car market contracted by 11.8% to 156,305 new passenger vehicle registrations during the first half of 2013.

The shrinking of the car market in Switzerland was largely expected. 2012 was a record year for car sales in Switzerland. The first half, and in particularly the second quarter, of 2012 saw very strong sales, as car buyers brought purchases forward to avoid a new tax regime.

Best-Selling Car Brands in Switzerland in 2013 (Half Year)

The top-selling automobile marques in Switzerland during the first half of 2013 according to car sales statistics released by Auto-Schweiz were:

  MANUFACTURERS  HY/2013 HY/2012 +/- % Share HY/2013 Share HY/2012
  Total Swiss Market 156,305 177,310 -11.8 100.0 100.0
1 Volkswagen 19,565 23,944 -18.3 12.5 13.5
2 Audi 10,391 11,282 -7.9 6.6 6.4
3 BMW 10,194 9,260 10.1 6.5 5.2
4 Mercedes 8,813 9,402 -6.3 5.6 5.3
5 Skoda 8,508 10,488 -18.9 5.4 5.9
6 Ford 7,780 9,925 -21.6 5.0 5.6
7 Opel 7,530 8,541 -11.8 4.8 4.8
8 Renault 6,764 8,883 -23.9 4.3 5.0
9 Toyota 6,529 7,025 -7.1 4.2 4.0
10 Peugeot 6,152 7,042 -12.6 3.9 4.0
11 Citroën 5,418 6,509 -16.8 3.5 3.7
12 Hyundai 5,261 6,647 -20.9 3.4 3.7
13 Fiat 5,129 5,454 -6.0 3.3 3.1
14 Seat 4,349 5,006 -13.1 2.8 2.8
15 Suzuki 4,170 3,968 5.1 2.7 2.2
16 Nissan 4,132 5,216 -20.8 2.6 2.9
17 Volvo 4,019 4,645 -13.5 2.6 2.6
18 Subaru 4,016 3,671 9.4 2.6 2.1
19 Mazda 3,946 3,922 0.6 2.5 2.2
20 Honda 3,530 3,179 11.0 2.3 1.8
21 Dacia 2,809 2,894 -2.9 1.8 1.6
22 MINI 2,400 2,432 -1.3 1.5 1.4
23 Mitsubishi 2,329 2,634 -11.6 1.5 1.5
24 Chevrolet 2,252 2,069 8.8 1.4 1.2
25 Kia 1,964 1,987 -1.2 1.3 1.1
26 Land-Rover 1,736 2,047 -15.2 1.1 1.2
27 Porsche 1,316 1,248 5.4 0.8 0.7
28 Alfa Romeo 1,136 1,662 -31.6 0.7 0.9
29 Jeep 850 1,367 -37.8 0.5 0.8
30 Smart 841 968 -13.1 0.5 0.5
Quelle: auto-schweiz / ASTRA/MOFIS

Top-Selling Car Brands in Switzerland in 2013 (Half Year)

Almost all of the top car brands in Switzerland saw red ink during the first six months of 2013. Although Volkswagen easily remained the strongest selling car brand in Switzerland, VW did lead the market down and lost a percentage market share.

Second-placed Audi outperformed the market and gained some market share despite weaker sales. In contrast, BMW saw sales increase by 10% and as a result improved from sixth place last year to third and gained over a percentage market share. BMW was the only top-ten manufacturer with positive growth in Switzerland thus far in 2013.

Fellow German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz also gained market share despite weaker sales and improved one rank place. Further down the ranks, Porsche improved from thirtieth place last year with sales increasing by 5.4%

Skoda saw sales down by 19% and slipping from third best-selling car brand in Switzerland during the first half of 2012. Skoda was largely affected by the change of the very popular Skoda Octavia model at the start of the second quarter of 2013.

Ford slipped two places with sales down 22%. Opel (-12%) swapped places with Renault (-24%), which was the worst performer amongst the top 25 brands in Switzerland during the first half of 2013.

Toyota and Peugeot swapped places, as did Citroen and Hyundai. Hyundai sales were down by a fifth while fellow South Korean car brand Kia had flat sales.

Japanese brands had mostly positive growth although Nissan was sharply down while Toyota still outperformed the broader market.

Top-Selling Car Models in Switzerland in 2013 (Half Year)

The top-ten list of most popular car models in Switzerland during the first six months of 2013 according to Auto-Schweiz was:

HY2012 HY2013 Make Model Sales
1 1 VW Golf 6,077
2 2 Skoda Octavia 4,460
25 3 BMW 3er 2,717
3 4 VW Polo 2,628
4 5 VW Tiguan 2,469
New 6 Peugeot 208 2,357
18 7 Audi A4 2,165
10 8 Toyota Yaris 2,027
19 9 Ford Focus 2,023
5 10 VW Passat 2,015

Best-Selling Car Models in Switzerland in 2013 (First Half)

The Volkswagen Golf easily maintained its position as the best-selling car model in Switzerland. The Golf was outsold by the Skoda Octavia during January and February 2013, but regained the top spot for the rest of the year.

The Skoda Octavia maintained its second place. Sales were affected by a model change during the second quarter of 2013

The BMW 3 Series was the most improved model, shooting up from 25th a year ago. It was the first of three new entries in the top-ten list of most popular car models in Switzerland during the first half of 2013.

The VW Polo and VW Tiguan both slipped one place while the VW Passat slipped from fifth a year ago to tenth.

The Peogeot 208, a new model, entered the listing at sixth place, while the Audi A4 improved from 18th place a year ago. The Toyota Yaris improved from tenth a year ago while the Ford Focus entered the top-ten list from 19th during the first half of 2012.

The Ford Fiesta, VW Touran, Opel Astra, and Mercedes-Benz C-Class all slipped out of the top ten.(S130711)

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.