2009 Full Year Best-Selling Car Models in Germany

In 2009, the Volkswagen Golf was again Germany’s favorite car while the VW Polo was the second most popular new car. The Opel Corsa and Astra were also top sellers.

© Volkswagen Media Services

The Volkswagen Golf easily remained Germany’s best-selling car in 2009. More new Golfs were registered in Germany in 2009 than the combined number of VW Polo, Opel Corsa, and Opel Astra cars that followed the Golf on the top-sellers list. The Volkswagen Golf has been Germany’s most popular car since 1981 and has been the best-selling car model in Europe for the past two years.

Top 30 Best-Selling Car Models in Germany in 2009

New passenger vehicle registration statistics published by the KBA identified the top 30 best-selling car models in Germany in 2009 as:

  • Car Model … Cars Sold in 2009 … % Volume Change from 2008
  1. VW Golf / Golf Plus / Jetta … 366,231… 58.3
  2. VW Polo … 109,005 … 51.5
  3. Opel Corsa … 106,980 … 58.2
  4. Opel Astra … 104,750 … 37.7
  5. Skoda Fabia … 103,645 … 82.6
  6. Ford Fiesta … 102,571 … 135.9
  7. VW Passat … 84,729 … -10.4
  8. Mercedes C Class … 77,394 … -21.1
  9. Audi A4 … 75,341 … -23.7
  10. BMW 3 Series … 72,288 … -17.2
  11. Audi A3 … 72,238 … 11.0
  12. BMW 1 Series … 71,400 … -5.6
  13. Ford Focus … 64,225 … -3.0
  14. Fiat Panda … 59,114 … 297.8
  15. Peugeot 207 … 58,222 … 26.4
  16. VW Touran … 55,913 … -2.5
  17. Mercedes A Class … 54,622 … -11.3
  18. Skoda Octavia … 54,335 … 20.8
  19. VW Caddy … 53,175 … 68.7
  20. Fiat Grande Punto … 53,111 … 157.6
  21. Dacia Sandero … 51,292 … 705.3
  22. Mercedes E Class … 50,867 … 18.0
  23. Seat Ibiza / Cordoba … 45,878 … 70.1
  24. VW Tiguan … 44,513… 25.3
  25. Toyota Yaris … 42,638 … 54.1
  26. Mercedes B Class … 40,791 … -14.8
  27. Renault Clio … 37,502 … 42.6
  28. Opel Insignia … 36,347 … 989.5
  29. BMW 5 Series … 34,374 … -22.6
  30. Smart Fortwo … 33,973 … 0.6

Changes on the List of Top 10 Best-Selling Cars in Germany in 2009

The Volkswagen Golf has been Germany’s favorite car since 1981 but even so its lead of a quarter-million cars over the second-placed VW Polo was astonishing. In 2008, only 130,000 more VW Golfs were sold than then second place Audi A4.

Although the so-called premium models dropped out of the top-five list in 2009, many expensive cars still managed to stay on the top-ten list of best-selling cars in Germany.   Compared to 2008, the Audi A4 slipped from second most popular to ninth, the Mercedes C Class from third to eighth, the VW Passat from seventh, and the BMW 3 Series from fifth to tenth. These cars not only lost relative positions but also sold fewer cars in Germany in 2009.

Cheaper Cars Sold Well on the German Auto Market in 2009

Smaller and cheaper cars did well in Germany in 2009 and were helped by the generous Abwrakprämie (cash-for-clunkers car-scrapping scheme). Small cars such as the VW Polo improved from last year’s eighth position to the second most popular car in Germany in 2008. Similarly, the Polo-based Skoda Fabia improved from fourteenth, the small Ford Fiesta doubled sales to improve from twentieth place in 2008 to sixth in 2009.

Fiat, which produces mostly smaller and cheaper cars also benefited from the Abwrackprämie. The Fiat Panda increased sales by almost 300% to move from position 49 in 2008 to 14 in 2009. The Fiat Grand Punto more than doubled sales. (The Dacia Sandero and Opel Insignia’s fantastic percentage increases are due to both models being new on the market with very few sales recorded during 2008.)

In 2009, 3,807,175 cars were sold in Germany – an increase of 23.2% over 2008. Volkswagen with a market share of 21.2% was easily the top-selling car manufacturer in Germany in 2009. Volkswagen was also the best-selling manufacturer and car brand in Europe in 2009.

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.