In 2013, the Volkswagen Golf extended its lead as the top-selling car in Germany. The VW Passat and BMW 3 Series were also favorites of German car buyers.
In 2013, the Volkswagen Golf maintained its traditional position as Germany’s favorite car. The VW Golf increased its lead with slightly positive sales in a contracting car market. The VW Passat was the second best-selling car in Germany in 2013 despite sales slipping by a fifth. The BMW 3 Series sold strongly to take third place from the VW Polo. The Skoda Octavia was the most popular imported car model at 11th place.
New passenger vehicle registrations in Germany in 2013 contracted by 4.2% to 2,952,431 cars.
Best-Selling Car Models in Germany in 2013
The top 30 most popular cars in Germany in 2013 according to car sales statistics released by the KBA were:
| Rank 2013 | Rank 2012 | Brand and Model | Sales 2013 | % Change |
| 1 | 1 | VW GOLF, JETTA | 244 249 | 1.5 |
| 2 | 2 | VW PASSAT | 72 048 | -19.3 |
| 3 | 6 | BMW 3SERIES | 69 486 | 11.2 |
| 4 | 3 | VW POLO | 68 343 | -10.7 |
| 5 | 18 | AUDI A3, S3, RS3 | 60 978 | 32.6 |
| 6 | 11 | VW TIGUAN | 57 838 | 4 |
| 7 | 8 | BMW 1SERIES | 53 214 | -10.2 |
| 8 | 4 | MERCEDES C-CLASS | 52 433 | -24.1 |
| 9 | 5 | OPEL ASTRA | 50 322 | -24.9 |
| 10 | 10 | OPEL CORSA | 49 595 | -11 |
| 11 | 17 | SKODA OCTAVIA | 49 495 | 6.9 |
| 12 | 25 | MERCEDES A-CLASS | 49 034 | 53.4 |
| 13 | 9 | AUDI A4, S4, RS4 | 48 310 | -16.2 |
| 14 | 12 | VW TOURAN | 46 184 | -12.9 |
| 15 | 16 | FORD FOCUS | 45 485 | -5.1 |
| 16 | 7 | MERCEDES B-CLASS | 45 455 | -23.5 |
| 17 | 14 | FORD FIESTA | 45 151 | -11.2 |
| 18 | 15 | BMW 5SERIES | 44 468 | -7.6 |
| 19 | 19 | VW UP | 42 867 | 0.1 |
| 20 | 21 | MERCEDES E-CLASS | 41 159 | 10.3 |
| 21 | 13 | AUDI A6, S6, RS6, A7 | 40 813 | -22.6 |
| 22 | 20 | SKODA FABIA | 39 549 | -2.9 |
| 23 | 22 | MINI | 34 263 | -5.6 |
| 24 | 23 | VW TRANSPORTER, CARAVELLE | 32 684 | -3.5 |
| 25 | – | SEAT ALTEA, TOLEDO, LEON | 31 037 | 63.6 |
| 26 | 24 | VW CADDY | 30 777 | -4.8 |
| 27 | 30 | HYUNDAI I 30 | 30 569 | 6.2 |
| 28 | 27 | SEAT IBIZA, CORDOBA | 29 967 | 1.1 |
| 29 | – | FIAT 500 | 29 024 | 45 |
| 30 | 28 | AUDI A1, S1 | 27 267 | -7.4 |
| Source: KBA |
Top Ten Best-Selling Cars in Germany in 2013 (Full Year)
The Volkswagen Golf remained Germany’s most popular car by far in 2013. In a weak market, the new Golf VII was received very well with sales slightly increasing to widen the gap even further to the second place Passat. The Golf alone sold more cars than the next three cars combined. The VW Golf has been Germany’s favorite car every year since 1981.
The VW Passat maintained its second place behind the Golf despite sales slipping by nearly a fifth. The Passat is due for a model change in 2014 and should be able to hold off the fast rising BMW 3 Series.
The new BMW 3 Series was popular worldwide and in Germany increased sales by 11% to snatch third place from the VW Polo. The BMW was the sixth most popular car in Germany a year ago.
The aging VW Polo saw sales contract by 10.7% and slipped one place from a year ago. The VW Polo is due a small facelift in 2014 but easily remained the most popular car in its class.
The Audi A3 was the most improved model of the top sellers in Germany in 2013. Sales of the Audi A3 increased by nearly a third allowing the model to moved up to fifth place from 18th a year go.
Sales of the VW Tiguan was also positive allowing the model to move up to sixth from 11th a year ago. The Tiguan was the most poplar SUV by far in Germany in 2013.
The BMW 1 Series improved one position from a year ago despite sales slipping by 10% in 2013. This is the highest position ever for the BMW 1 Series after 8th a year ago and 14th in 2011.
The Mercedes C Class and Opel Astra each lost around a quarter of sales in 2013 and slipped four places down the top-sellers list. The new Mercedes C Class will be launched early in 2014 while a new Astra is still in the more distant future.
The Opel Corsa maintained its 10th position despite weak sales.
Top-Selling Car Models in Germany in 2013
A few further salient statistics from the list of top-selling car models in Germany in 2013:
- The Skoda Octavia remains the most popular imported car model in Germany in 2013. It missed out on a top-10 placing by just 100 cars. During the previous two years the Octavia was in position 17.
- The most popular imported car model of a brand not belonging to a German company (i.e. not Seat and Skoda belonging to VW or Mini to BMW) was the Hyundai i30, up three places from a year ago to 27th in 2013.
- Sales of the new Mercedes A Class improved by more than half and up to 12th place in 2013 from 25th a year ago. The B-Class slipped from 7th to 16th.
- New entrants on the top-30 list were the Seat Leon with sales up by almost two thirds and the Fiat 500 with sales up by almost half.
- The two cars dropping out of the top-30 were the Nissan Qashqai – at 31st still the most popular Japanese car in Germany – and the Opel Zafira, which saw sales down by a third and slipping from 26th a year ago to only 42nd this year.
Volkswagen and Mercedes were the best-selling car brands in Germany in 2013.
