The VW Golf and Passat were the best-selling passenger cars in Germany in 2007 while Volkswagen and Mercedes were the leading automobile brands.
The German car market, Europe’s largest, shrunk by 9.2% during 2007 to 3,148,163 new passenger vehicle registrations. The Volkswagen Golf easily maintained its position as Germany’s favorite car while Volkswagen also remained the strongest-selling auto brand. Luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz was in second position.
The German New Passenger Car Market Shrunk in 1997
The German car market contracted by 9.2% during 2007 with almost 320,000 fewer cars sold during 2007 compared to 2006. According to car sales statistics released by the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA)Â the German market shrunk to only 3,148,163 new passenger vehicle registrations – the worst performance since the reunification of Germany in 1990.
The weak performance of the German car market is largely blamed on the increase of value-added sales tax in Germany by 3% (to 19%) from January 2007. The expected sales tax increase led to strong sales at the end of 2006 and a very weak start to 2007.
Top-Selling Car Manufacturers & Brands in Germany in 2007
In 2007, Volkswagen remained Germany’s best-selling automobile brand by easily outselling all competitors. Luxury brand Mercedes-Benz was the second best-selling car brand while Opel was third.The only change in positions on the list of the top-ten best-selling car brands in Germany was a change in positions between Toyota and Renault.
Volkswagen-owned Skoda was the only top-ten manufacturer to have seen an actual increase in the number of cars sold in Germany in 2007. However, even here the increase amounted to only 159 more cars sold in Germany in 2007.
The Top-Ten Best-Selling Car Brand in 2007:
Manufacturer | Cars Sold in 2007 | Cars Sold in 2006 | % Change | |
1 | Volkswagen | 608,820 | 689,116 | -11.7 |
2 | Mercedes | 327,742 | 342,768 | -4.4 |
3 | Opel | 285,267 | 334,479 | -14.7 |
4 | BMW/Mini | 284,889 | 297,457 | -4.2 |
5 | Audi | 249,305 | 262,356 | -5.0 |
6 | Ford | 213,873 | 243,845 | -12.3 |
7 | Toyota/Lexus | 132,535 | 147,995 | -10.4 |
8 | Renault | 122,978 | 149,516 | -17.7 |
9 | Skoda | 118,682 | 118,523 | +0.1 |
10 | Peugeot | 93,394 | 111,151 | -16.0 |
 |  German Car Market | 3,148,163 |  | -9.2 |
Top-Twenty Best-Selling Car Models in Germany in 2007
Volkswagen’s Golf remained Germany’s favorite car by selling more than twice as many cars than the second place VW Passat. The Passat and BMW 3-Series both maintained their previous second and third positions on the list of best-selling cars in Germany.
However, even the Golf was not immune to the overall weakness in the German car market in 2007 with Golf sales falling by 9.5% – slightly more than the overall market. Of the 20 best-selling car models in Germany, only the Opel Corsa and Mercedes-Benz C-Class manage to improve sales – both were helped by a model change.
Top 20 Best-Selling Car Models in Germany in 2007:
- Car Model … No of Cars Sold in 2007 … % Change from 2006 Sales
- VW Golf/Jetta … 214,368 … -9.5
- VW Passat … 105,308 … -15.5
- BMW 3-Series … 100,559 … -13.1
- Audi A4 … 84,092 … -12.8
- Opel Astra … 83,048 … -23.3
- Opel Corsa … 79,098 … 29.7
- Mercedes C-Class… 78,254 … 25.4
- VW Polo … 76,683 … -10.5
- VW Touran … 73,081 … -12.4
- Audi A3 … 70,517 … -8.5
- Mercedes A-Class … 62,193 … -12.8
- Ford Focus … 57,546 … -20.2
- Mercedes E-Class … 56,695 … -0.2
- Audi A6 … 55,361 … -14.4
- BMW 1-Series … 55,105 … -2.1
- Mercedes B-Class … 51,484 … -18.7
- Ford Fiesta … 50,807 … -13.0
- Skoda Fabia … 50,328 … -7.9
- BMW 5-Series … 50,024 … -1.6
- Skoda Octavia … 47,711 … -15.9