The Volkswagen Golf and Passat were again Germany’s favorite car models in 2017 but the VW Tiguan replaced the Polo as the third most-popular car.
Despite lower sales, the Volkswagen Golf and Passat were the two best-selling car models in Germany in 2017 for the seventh consecutive year. The Volkswagen Tiguan moved into third place as the highest rank position ever for an SUV in Germany. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class was again the fourth best-selling car model in Germany in 2017. The VW Polo that was replaced towards the end of the year slipped to fifth. Sales were down for most models on the top 30 list but several SUVs and luxury German limousines increased sales sharply.
Top 30 Best-Selling Car Models in Germany in 2017 (Full Year)
New passenger vehicle registrations released by the KBA identified the following 30 cars as the top-selling car models in Germany in 2017:
| Brand & Model | Sales in 2017 | Sales in 2016 | Sales in 2015 | |
| 1 | VW GOLF | 228,227 | 235,935 | 270,952 |
| 2 | VW PASSAT | 72,430 | 80,900 | 97,586 |
| 3 | VW TIGUAN | 71,437 | 63,979 | 58,978 |
| 4 | MERCEDES C-KLASSE | 68,584 | 66,898 | 67,549 |
| 5 | VW POLO | 61,378 | 72,017 | 69,867 |
| 6 | AUDI A4, S4, RS4 | 59,469 | 61,597 | 52,493 |
| 7 | SKODA OCTAVIA | 59,147 | 58,683 | 57,907 |
| 8 | OPEL ASTRA | 56,327 | 65,173 | 56,079 |
| 9 | VW TOURAN | 52,182 | 52,560 | 37,098 |
| 10 | OPEL CORSA | 51,349 | 55,191 | 52,741 |
| 11 | SKODA FABIA | 49,917 | 49,947 | 45,018 |
| 12 | AUDI A3, S3, RS3 | 49,820 | 57,176 | 57,858 |
| 13 | MERCEDES E-KLASSE | 47,845 | 37,945 | 30,860 |
| 14 | MINI | 46,705 | 44,010 | 39,714 |
| 15 | BMW 1ER | 45,699 | 46,632 | 46,340 |
| 16 | FORD FOCUS | 45,391 | 47,990 | 51,677 |
| 17 | SEAT LEON | 44,946 | 46,010 | 42,125 |
| 18 | BMW 5ER | 42,840 | 30,055 | 33,108 |
| 19 | FORD FIESTA | 41,750 | 43,887 | 45,424 |
| 20 | BMW 2ER | 41,144 | 50,680 | 42,916 |
| 21 | MERCEDES GLK, GLC | 39,397 | 26,255 | 16,503 |
| 22 | VW TRANSPORTER | 39,390 | 40,875 | 33,768 |
| 23 | AUDI A6, S6, RS6 | 38,856 | 41,341 | 44,095 |
| 24 | BMW 3ER | 38,343 | 43,986 | 44,637 |
| 25 | FORD KUGA | 37,962 | 34,676 | 28,529 |
| 26 | VW UP | 36,685 | 36,592 | 38,877 |
| 27 | OPEL MOKKA | 35,631 | 32,052 | 31,037 |
| 28 | BMW X1 | 35,016 | 28,400 | 16,406 |
| 29 | VW CADDY | 32,934 | 32,191 | 27,468 |
| 30 | FIAT 500 | 29,836 | 32,677 | 33,908 |
Top Ten Best-Selling Car Models in Germany in 2017
Although there were some changes in the rank positions, the car models on the top-ten list of most-popular cars in Germany remained largely the same in 2017 compared to the previous two years.
The Volkswagen Golf retained its customary position as Germany’s favorite car in 2017. However, for the second consecutive year, the number of Golf sold in Germany was lower than in the preceding year. However, the Volkswagen still sold more Golfs in Germany than the following three cars combined. The VW Golf has been Germany’s best-selling car since 1981 – in 1980 the Mercedes-Benz W123 model (E-Class) was the best-selling car model in Germany.
For the seventh consecutive year the VW Passat was the second most popular car in Germany – the Polo was in second place in 2010. However, as with the Golf, the actual number of Passats sold was down in 2017.
The VW Tiguan moved up from sixth to third most-popular car in Germany in 2017 to give Volkswagen another clean sweep of the three best-selling models. In contrast to the top two, Tiguan sales volumes actually increased. Third is the highest placing ever for the Tiguan or any other SUV in Germany.
The Mercedes-Benz C-Class was the fourth most-popular car in Germany in 2017. The C-Class has been fourth the last three years.
The VW Polo slipped from third to fifth with lower sales in Germany in 2017. The lower sales are largely due to a well-published model change for the Polo towards the end of year. Despite the trend towards SUVs, the Polo is likely to resume its more customary third place in Germany in 2018.
The Audi A4 and Skoda Octavia moved up one position each despite sales being fairly stable from a year ago. In contrast, sales of the Opel Astra were sharply down forcing the Astra down from fifth a year ago to eighth in 2017.
Despite slightly lower sales, the VW Touran improved two rank positions and was the only new entry on the top-ten list in Germany in 2017. The Touran replaced the Audi A3 that slipped from ninth to twelfth with weaker sales.
The Opel Corsa round out the top ten at the same position in 2017 as a year ago despite weaker sales.
30 Most-Favorite Car Models in Germany in 2017
Only two car models were new on the list of the top 30 best-selling car models in Germany compared to the previous two years. The Mercedes-Benz GLX, GLC and the BMW X1 are new with both models selling around 20,000 cars more in Germany in 2017 compared to 2015.
In 2017, SUVs took a 15% share of the German new passenger car market with sales up by 22%. This made it less surprising that the two SUVs replaced the Mercedes-Benz A-Class and B-Class in the top 30 list. Other SUVs including the VW Tiguan and Ford Kuga also increased the number of cars sold in Germany in 2017.
Germany’s “business-class limousines”, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and BMW 5 Series both increased sales by around 10,000 cars in 2017. Sales of the Audi A6 were only slightly lower.
The BMW 5 Series outsold the BMW 3 Series by quite a margin with the new 3 Series only due towards the end of 2018, or early 2019. Sales of the BMW 2 Series were also sharply lower.
Although the Skoda Octavia was again the favorite imported car model in Germany, the Fiat 500 at 30th was the only car on the list from a carmaker not considered German or owned by a German car manufacturer.
