2014 (Full Year) Switzerland: Best-Selling Car Brands and Manufacturers

Geneva Car Show 2014In 2014, Volkswagen remained the top-selling car brand in Switzerland while BMW overtook Audi. The Swiss car market declined to just over 300,000 vehicles. Nearly 40% of new passenger vehicle registrations in Switzerland in 2014 were for four-wheel drive cars while alternative fuel cars increased market share to 3.3%. The Volkswagen Golf easily remained the most popular car in Switzerland.

The Swiss Car Market in 2014 (Full Year)

New passenger vehicle registrations in Switzerland in 2014 contracted by 1.9% to 301,942 cars. However, for the fourth year in a row, the Swiss new car market exceeded 300,000 vehicles. The contraction in 2014 was much smaller than in 2013 (-6.2%) that followed on the record 2012 when car sales in Switzerland was at it second highest – only 1999 had higher numbers.

Year Cars Sold in Switzerland % Change
2014 301,942 -1.9
2013 307,885 -6.2
2012 328,139 2.9
2011 318,958 8.4
2010 294,239 10.6
2009 266,018 -7.8

The number of four-wheel drive cars continues to increase in Switzerland. In 2014, 38.5% of new passenger vehicle registrations, or 116,186 cars (+4.8%) where all-wheel drive. Alternative energy car sales increased by 5.7% to 9,863 cars.

Best-Selling Car Brands in Switzerland in 2014 (Full Year)

New passenger vehicle registration data released by Auto Schweiz showed the following car marques to have been the top 30 best-selling brands in Switzerland in 2014:

Rank 2014 Manufacturer Sales 2014 Sales 2013 % Change % Share
1 Volkswagen 40,146 40,925 -1.9 13.3
2 BMW 21,057 20,303 3.7 7
3 Audi 20,949 21,254 -1.4 6.9
4 Skoda 19,517 17,939 8.8 6.5
5 Mercedes 18,384 16,737 9.8 6.1
6 Opel 13,384 14,192 -5.7 4.4
7 Ford 12,949 14,840 -12.7 4.3
8 Renault 11,747 13,508 -13 3.9
9 Peugeot 11,423 11,785 -3.1 3.8
10 Toyota 11,275 12,646 -10.8 3.7
11 Citroën 11,268 11,024 2.2 3.7
12 Hyundai 11,001 10,241 7.4 3.6
13 Seat 9,378 9,159 2.4 3.1
14 Fiat 9,029 9,725 -7.2 3
15 Suzuki 8,515 8,364 1.8 2.8
16 Mazda 7,591 7,591 0 2.5
17 Nissan 7,166 7,508 -4.6 2.4
18 Volvo 6,867 7,710 -10.9 2.3
19 Subaru 6,277 7,563 -17 2.1
20 Kia 4,886 3,981 22.7 1.6
21 Dacia 4,784 5,171 -7.5 1.6
22 Honda 4,501 5,595 -19.6 1.5
23 MINI 4,463 4,726 -5.6 1.5
24 Mitsubishi 3,565 4,481 -20.4 1.2
25 Land-Rover 3,490 3,454 1 1.2
26 Jeep 3,274 2,097 56.1 1.1
27 Porsche 3,165 2,518 25.7 1
28 Alfa Romeo 2,104 1,989 5.8 0.7
29 Chevrolet 2,072 4,266 -51.4 0.7
30 Smart 1,681 1,708 -1.6 0.6
Total 301,942 307,885 -1.9 100

Top-10 Best-Selling Car Brands in Switzerland in 2014

The Swiss car market is traditionally highly competitive allowing for larger swings and changes in relative rank positions of car manufacturers than are common in larger European markets. However, even in Switzerland Volkswagen is traditionally the best-selling car marque and VW remain comfortably at the top despite weaker sales in 2014.

BMW had a strong year in Switzerland allowing it to overtake Audi for second place in 2014 – the difference this year just over 100 cars. Skoda and Mercedes-Benz had strong growth and maintained their relative positions in the rankings.

New car sales of Opel in Switzerland were down but Ford performed even weaker allowing for a swap in relative positions in 2014. Renault sales were even weaker than Ford but did not result in a position change.

Peugeot took ninth place from Toyota by selling only 3% fewer cars compared to Toyota’s contraction of nearly 11%.

A few further salient figurers from the new passenger vehicle registration data for Switzerland in 2014:

  • In contrast to many other European markets, sales of Korean brands Kia and Hyundai increased strongly rather than contract.
  • Similarly Mini and Smart sales were only moderately weaker in Switzerland.
  • The best performers were Jeep (+56%), Porsche (+26%) and Kia (+23%).
  • The worst performers were Chevrolet (-51%) that is withdrawing from the European market, Mitsubishi (-20%) and Honda (-20%).

The Volkswagen Golf was again Switzerland’s favorite car model in 2014.

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.