2014 Germany: Total Number of Registered Cars on German Roads

Volkswagen, Opel and Mercedes-Benz remain the most common car brands registered in Germany. The total number of cars in Germany increased by 1% in 2014.

VW T-ROC SUV
VW SUV T-ROC Concept Car © Volkswagen Media Services

On January 1, 2014, the number of registered vehicles (Fahrzeugbestand) in Germany increased to a record 61.5 million vehicles. The number of passenger vehicles (Personenkraftwagen / PKW) in Germany increased by a percentage point to 43,851,230 cars. Volkswagen remains the most common brand on German roads in 2014 followed by Opel and Mercedes-Benz. The number of cars registered in Germany at the beginning of 2014 increased by 420,000 cars despite German new passenger vehicle car sales contracting by 4.2% in 2013.

Total Number of Vehicles Registered in Germany in 2014

The total number of vehicles registered in Germany on January 1, 2014 was 61.5 million units. These figures include 53 million motorized vehicles, 6.5 million trailers (Anhänger), and 2 million other vehicles with insurance registration.

The number of registered passenger cars (Personenkraftwagen / PKW) in Germany on January 1, 2014 increased by 1% over the 2013 figure to 43,851,230 cars. German brands account for 65.2% of all cars on German roads.

The average age of cars in Germany is now 8.8 years. 451,000 cars are older than 30 years – of these 314,000 use historical number plates, which give amongst others tax and insurance benefits to older cars in original condition. (Mercedes leads the way in the old-timer rankings.)

Embarrassingly, given German carmakers PR claims about clean cars and technological leadership, only 12,156 cars registered in Germany are electric. A further 85,575 cars are hybrids.

Cars Registered in Germany in 2014 by Brand

According to statistics released by the KBA, the following were the most popular car brands registered in Germany on January 1, 2014:

 2014 % Share % Change  2013  2012
Alfa Romeo  149’378 0.3 -9.2  164’486  165’847
Audi  2’917’077 6.7 3.4  2’819’854  2’728’221
BMW  2’939’655 6.7 2.4  2’869’999  2’805’162
Chevrolet  274’143 0.6 6  247’693  230’432
Chrysler  90’504 0.2 -7.6  97’903  106’153
Citroen  797’693 1.8 0.2  796’055  782’226
Dacia  292’028 0.7 16.8  250’000  207’544
Daihatsu  119’591 0.3 -5.7  126’769  135’303
Fiat  1’152’379 2.6 -1.5  1’169’632  1’196’381
Ford  3’349’105 7.6 -1  3’384’197  3’434’665
Honda  503’226 1.1 -1.7  512’020  518’732
Hyundai  769’831 1.8 11.2  692’271  615’888
Jaguar  53’898 0.1 3.5  52’057  50’694
Jeep  64’196 0.1 10.7  57’983  54’780
Kia  475’439 1.1 9.2  435’480  396’614
Lancia  45’898 0.1 -6.9  49’274  53’209
Land Rover  74’257 0.2 7.6  68’997  64’275
Lexus  24’693 0.1 0  24’698  23’755
Mazda  866’321 2 -2.6  889’303  917’720
Mercedes  4’089’440 9.3 1.2  4’042’316  3’986’528
MG Rover  47’002 0.1 -11.1  52’851  73’013
Mini  294’239 0.7 10.9  265’208  237’319
Mitsubishi  463’822 1.1 -3.5  480’840  496’606
Nissan  824’942 1.9 -1.1  834’282  841’478
Opel  4’895’379 11.2 -3.1  5’050’495  5’199’610
Peugeot  1’248’499 2.8 -1.4  1’266’169  1’269’709
Porsche  214’507 0.5 9.2  196’375  179’421
Renault  1’908’287 4.4 -2.9  1’964’788  2’010’093
Saab  57’267 0.1 -5  60’296  63’535
Sachsenring  32’311 0.1 -0.5  32’485  32’997
Seat  835’631 1.9 6.2  786’700  754’223
Skoda  1’497’233 3.4 8.8  1’375’673  1’269’330
Smart  388’232 0.9 3.2  376’358  359’369
Subaru  124’839 0.3 -0.1  124’922  124’530
Suzuki  447’922 1 0.8  444’234  436’028
Toyota  1’323’562 3 -1.6  1’345’483  1’341’712
Volvo  444’199 1 0.4  442’463  434’133
VW  9’423’357 21.5 1.6  9’276’012  9’111’542
Others  331’248 0.8  277’964  181’790
TOTAL  43’851’230 100 1  43’431’124  42’927’647

Most Popular Car Brands in Germany in 2014

Volkswagen, not surprisingly, remains the most common car brand on German roads at the beginning of 2014. The number of VW cars in Germany increased by 1.6% from a year ago despite Volkswagen sales in Germany being down 4.6% in 2013. Volkswagen’s market share of 21.5% of the Fahrzeugbestand in Germany is roughly in line with its share of the new car market in recent years.

Opel remains the second most common car brand in Germany but its share is dropping fast and slipped below the 5 million mark in 2014. Opel saw a decrease of around 3% in each of the past two years.

The number of Mercedes-Benz cars in Germany continues to increase while Ford is still weakening. The battle of the Bavaria brands continues with BMW remaining just ahead of Audi.

Skoda was the most improved of the top-10 brands with Renault, Toyota, and Peugeot all loosing in appeal but maintaining relative positions from a year ago.

The brands with the biggest percentage growth are mostly marques fairly new on the German market with the number of new cars thus not yet being balanced out by older cars being scrapped. The highest growth was achieved by Dacia, Hyundai, Mini, and Jeep. Porsches are also increasingly common in Germany.

The biggest declines were shown by marques that have withdrawn, or are in the process, from the German car market: MG Rover (once owned by BMW), Alfa Romeo, Chrysler (once partnered with Mercedes-Benz), Lancia, Daihatsu and Saab. Of the major brands, Opel and Renault were the worst performers.

Japanese car brands have clearly fallen out of favor with the Germans: Suzuki was the only Japanese brand that saw an increase in the number of cars registered in Germany in 2014.