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.
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.
