2011 Full Year Top Ten Best-Selling Hybrid Cars in Germany

The Toyota Auris, Prius, and Lexus CT were the most popular hybrid vehicles with the highest number of new car registrations in Germany in 2011.

Toyota Auris Hybrid - Best-Selling Hybrid Car in Germany in 2011
Toyota Auris Hybrid – Best-Selling Hybrid Car in Germany in 2011 © Toyota Presse Deutschland

In 2011, the German hybrid car market was again dominated by Japanese manufacturers Toyota, Lexus, and Honda. Top-selling hybrid cars were the Toyota Auris and Toyota Prius. Only three of the top-ten most registered new hybrid passenger vehicles were from German brands. The German market for hybrid passenger vehicles grew by 2,000 cars to a record 12,622 new registrations in 2011 (10,661 in 2011).

Top Ten Best-Selling Hybrid Car Models in Germany in 2011

The ten most popular hybrid cars in Germany in 2011 according to new passenger vehicle registration statistics released by the KBA were:

Hybrid Car Make & Model Cars Sold in 2011
1 Toyota Auris 4,018
2 Toyota Prius 2,027
3 Lexus CT 1,525
4 Honda Jazz 928
5 Honda CR-Z 770
6 Lexus RX 706
7 Audi Q5 451
8 Opel Ampera 241
9 Porsche Panamera 202
10 Honda Insight 199
Total 12,622
Source: Kraftfahrt Bundesamt

Best-Selling Hybrid Cars in Germany in 2011

Japanese manufacturers continue to dominate the German hybrid car market. Nearly a third of all new hybrid cars sold in Germany in 2011 was the Golf-sized Toyota Auris. Toyota’s better-known hybrid model, the Prius, was relegated to second place in 2011. (The Prius was still the most popular car overall in Japan in 2011.) The Auris and Prius together constituted almost half of the total hybrid car market in Germany in 2011.

Lexus, which is owned by Toyota, did well too on the hybrid car market in Germany in 2011. The Lexus CT was the third most popular hybrid car in Germany and the only other model to have breached the thousand-car mark during 2011. The Lexus RX was sixth on the list.

Honda had three cars on the list of the top ten best-selling hybrid cars in Germany in 2011. The small Honda Jazz (Fit in Japan and some other markets) was the fourth best-selling hybrid car in Germany. The Honda CR-Z – a small sports car – was the fifth most popular. The Honda Insight was tenth with sales slipping in Germany as it did around the world.

Most Popular German Hybrid Cars in Germany in 2011

Audi Q5 Hybrid
© Audi Media

Hybrid cars by German manufacturers were slow sellers in Germany in 2011 – an onslaught of new German models is only expected by 2013. The most popular German hybrid car was the Audi Q5 SUV, although its sales were around a ninth of those registered by the popular Auris.

The Opel Ampera – sometimes counted as a purely electric vehicle – was the second German hybrid car on the top-selling list and one that is expected to do much better in 2012, its first full year on the market. Its sister model – the Chevrolet Volt – may also make a splash as it will retail for slightly less.

The very expensive Porsche Panamera saloon was the third German hybrid and ninth best-selling hybrid car in Germany in 2011. It is unlikely to ever become a volume model.

Total hybrid car sales in Germany for the full year 2011 was around the same as the number of regular cars registered in Germany per day. However, the market is clearly growing and should expand further with many German manufacturers expecting to introduce new hybrid models during 2012 and 2013. The German electric car market – only 2,154 cars during 2011 – is also expected to grow fast.

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.