2011 Full Year Best-Selling Car Models in Germany

The Volkswagen Golf was the most popular car model in Germany in 2011. The VW Passat and VW Polo were also at the top of the list of best-selling car models.

Volkswagen Golf
© Volkswagen Media Services

In 2011, the Volkswagen Golf was for the twentieth consecutive year the most popular car model in Germany. It was followed by two further Volkswagens – the VW Passat and VW Polo. The Opel Astra was the fourth and Mercedes C Class the fifth cars on the list of best-selling car models in Germany in 2011.

List of the Top 30 Best-Selling Car Models in Germany in 2011

Car sales statistics released by the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt list the top 30 best-selling car models in Germany in 2011 as follows:

Car Make & Model Cars Sold in 2011
1 VW GOLF, JETTA 258 059
2 VW PASSAT 103 507
3 VW POLO 90 720
4 OPEL ASTRA 86 579
5 MERCEDES C-CLASS 79 820
6 OPEL CORSA 70 152
7 BMW 3 SERIES 62 280
8 FORD FOCUS 61 157
9 BMW 5 SERIES 59 756
10 AUDI A4, S4 59 056
11 VW TOURAN 55 416
12 FORD FIESTA 53 940
13 AUDI A3, S3, RS3 53 801
14 BMW 1 SERIES 52 881
15 MERCEDES E CLASS 49 961
16 SKODA FABIA 47 579
17 SKODA OCTAVIA 46 571
18 AUDI A6, S6, RS6, A7 46 076
19 VW TIGUAN 45 662
20 MERCEDES A CLASS 43 542
21 OPEL MERIVA 41 097
22 BMW MINI 40 345
23 VW CADDY 37 397
24 VW TRANSPORTER, CARAVELLE 33 555
25 BMW X1 33 480
26 HYUNDAI I 30 32 697
27 NISSAN QASHQAI 32 651
28 MERCEDES B CLASS 30 053
29 SMART FORTWO 29 465
30 AUDI A1, S1 28 932

Source: Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt

Changes in the List of Top 10 Best-Selling Car Models in Germany in 2011

There was little change in the composition of the top-ten list of most-sold cars in Germany in 2011 compared to a year before. For the twentieth consecutive year, the Volkswagen Golf was Germany’s favorite car – in 1980, the Mercedes-Benz W-123 outsold the Golf. The VW Golf (including Golf Plus and Jetta models) sold 150,000 more cars than the second place Passat.

The VW Passat, which had a fairly small model update, improved the most to increase sales by over 50% and to move from seventh place last year to second. As a result, the VW Polo, Opel Astra, and Mercedes-Benz C Class all slipped one position.

New entrants on the top-ten list of best-selling car models in Germany in 2011 are the Ford Focus (12th last year) and the BMW 5 Series (16th in 2010).

Most Popular Imported Cars in Germany in 2011

The most popular imported cars in Germany in 2011 were the Skoda Fabia and Skoda Octavia at 16th and 17th positions overall on the list of best-selling car models in Germany in 2011. The Mini was 22nd. Both manufacturers are German-owned – Skoda is part of the Volkswagen Group and Mini is in the BMW Group.

The only other imported cars on the top-30 list of best-selling cars in Germany were the South Korean Hyundai i30 (+7.2%) and Japanese Nissan Qashqai (+35.2%).

Skoda was the top car importer into Germany in 2011 while Hyundai became the first South Korean car manufacturer to have entered the top 10 list of most popular car brands in Germany in 2011.

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.