2017 (Q3) Germany: Best-Selling Car Brands and Models

Volkswagen remained the largest carmaker in Germany but lost market share with weak sales in an expanding market. The VW Golf is still the top-selling model.

Volkswagen Golf R

During the first three quarters of 2017, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Audi were again the best-selling car brands in Germany. New passenger vehicle registrations in Germany increased by 2.2% to 2,611,821 cars but both VW and Audi had weaker sales. Most of the gains in the German new car market accrued to foreign brands with Mercedes-Benz and Mini the only German brands with noticeable gains. The Volkswagen Golf was again Germany’s favorite car but the Mercedes-Benz C-Class moved ahead of the VW Passat.

The German New Car Market in 2017 (Q1 – Q3)

New passenger vehicle registrations in Germany increased by 2.2% to 2,611,821 cars (PKW) during period January to September 2017. The total motorized vehicle market increased by a more modest 1.4% to 3,044,082 vehicles.

As in other European markets, diesels are fast loosing market share in Germany too. In September 2017, diesel had a market share of only 36.3% – a decline of 21.3% compared to September 2016.

Best-Selling Car Manufacturers in Germany in 2017 (Q1 – Q3)

New passenger vehicle registration statistics released by the KBA showed the following as the most-popular marques in Germany thus far in 2017:

Q1-3/2017 Q1-3/2016 % Share % Change
Total 2,611,821 2,555,783 100.0 2.2
1 VW 479,143 510,003 18.3 -6.1
2 Mercedes 252,072 235,828 9.7 6.9
3 Audi 220,958 227,684 8.5 -3.0
4 BMW 196,349 196,584 7.5 -0.1
5 Opel 187,399 185,738 7.2 0.9
6 Ford 183,208 183,456 7.0 -0.1
7 Skoda 146,715 140,772 5.6 4.2
8 Renault 99,821 88,072 3.8 13.3
9 Hyundai 81,804 81,346 3.1 0.6
10 Seat 78,338 71,290 3.0 9.9
11 Fiat 70,632 61,788 2.7 14.3
12 Toyota 61,952 51,926 2.4 19.3
13 Nissan 53,394 56,412 2.0 -5.3
14 Mazda 51,556 49,904 2.0 3.3
15 Kia 48,344 46,458 1.9 4.1
16 Dacia 47,691 37,752 1.8 26.3
17 Peugeot 47,411 42,629 1.8 11.2
18 Citroen 40,848 38,186 1.6 7.0
19 Mitsubishi 35,307 28,805 1.4 22.6
20 Mini 34,953 33,755 1.3 3.5
21 Suzuki 29,154 23,791 1.1 22.5
22 Volvo 29,086 28,050 1.1 3.7
23 Smart 25,474 26,442 1.0 -3.7
24 Porsche 22,938 23,053 0.9 -0.5
25 Land Rover 18,414 17,253 0.7 6.7
26 Honda 15,672 19,967 0.6 -21.5
27 Jeep 9,776 11,411 0.4 -14.3
28 Jaguar 7,397 6,710 0.3 10.2
29 Subaru 5,760 5,408 0.2 6.5
30 Alfa Romeo 4,817 3,039 0.2 58.5
31 Tesla 2,619 1,415 0.1 85.1
32 DS 2,531 3,263 0.1 -22.4
33 Ssangyong 2,429 2,692 0.1 -9.8
34 Lexus 2,350 1,676 0.1 40.2

Top-Selling Car Brands in Germany in 2017 (Q1 – Q3)

There were no changes in the relative sales rank positions of the ten largest car manufacturers in Germany during the first nine months of 2017.

Volkswagen easily remained the largest carmaker in Germany thus far in 2017 but VW continued to bleed market share. VW sales were down by 6.1% – by far the worst performance of any of the top 20 largest car marques in Germany. VW sales during the first nine months of 2017 were at 479,143 cars over 30,000 fewer cars than were sold during the first three quarters of 2016. Volkswagen’s market share shrank from 20% a year ago to 18.6%.

Mercedes-Benz, in contrast, consolidated its second place with a 7% increase in sales to add around 17,000 cars for 252,072 sold thus far in 2017. Mercedes increased its market share in Germany by half a percentage point to 9.7%.

Audi, part of the Volkswagen Group, was the only other top-ten brand with noticeably weaker sales thus far in 2017. BMW, Opel and Ford had sales virtually unchanged from a year ago.

Skoda, another Volkswagen Group member, increased sales by 4.2% to remain the largest foreign brand in Germany thus far in 2017. Renault increased sales by an even stronger 13.3% to remain the largest import brand not strongly linked to a German brand.

Hyundai sales were flat but sufficient to remain the largest non-European car brand in Germany thus far in 2017.

Seat, another Volkswagen Group brand, rounded out the top-ten list with a 10% increase in sales.

Fiat remained the largest Italian brand in Germany with sales up a strong 14%. Toyota performed even better with sales up by a fifth to regain 12th position and leading Japanese marque in Germany from Nissan that had weaker sales.

Mazda and Kia just outperformed the broader market but Dacia sales in Germany increased by more than a quarter and two rank positions. As a result, both Peugeot and Citroen dropped one position despite strong sales. Mitsubishi also surpassed Mini with sales up by nearly a quarter.

The most-improved brands in Germany thus far in 2017 were Tesla (85%), Alfa Romeo (59%) and Lexus (40%). Alfa Romeo entered the top 30 list and Tesla just missed out.

The worst performing brands in Germany thus far in 2017 were DS (-22%), Honda (-22%) and Jeep (-14%). DS slipped out of the top 30 list in Germany.

Top 20 Best-Selling Cars in Germany in 2017 (Q1 – Q3)

The 20 most popular car models in Germany during the first nine months of 2017 according to the KBA were:

Car Model Q1-3/2017 Q1-3/2016 Q1-3/2015
1 VW GOLF 168,781 188,141 205,951
2 MERCEDES C-CLASS 54,511 51,443 52,661
3 VW PASSAT 54,270 62,990 72,410
4 VW TIGUAN 52,953 46,819 43,843
5 VW POLO 51,822 53,394 50,838
6 AUDI A4, S4, RS4 46,006 49,371 42,093
7 OPEL ASTRA 44,906 48,624 42,035
8 SKODA OCTAVIA 44,704 43,957 43,676
9 OPEL CORSA 40,036 42,189 39,480
10 AUDI A3, S3, RS3 39,090 46,256 44,356
11 VW TOURAN 38,722 41,990 26,264
12 SKODA FABIA 38,206 38,014 33,214
13 MERCEDES E-CLASS 36,120 27,303 NA
14 MINI MINI 34,952 33,755 29,633
15 SEAT LEON 33,764 35,674 31,546
16 FORD FOCUS 32,172 37,026 38,597
17 BMW 1 SERIES 32,052 33,163 33,043
18 BMW 2 SERIES 31,771 39,650 32,838
19 BMW 5 SERIES 31,334 22,639 NA
20 AUDI A6, S6, RS6 30,702 32,298 32,752

Top-Selling Car Models in Germany in 2017 (Q1-3)

Although the ten most-popular car models in Germany during the first three quarters of 2017 were the same cars as during the first nine months of 2016, the VW Golf was the only model in the same rank position as before.

The VW Golf easily maintained its position as Germany’s favorite car model thus far in 2017 but Golf sales were 20,000 cars compared to a year ago and 37,000 on the figures of 2015.

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class moved up into second place from fourth. This is the best position for the C-Class ever and the best for a Mercedes-Benz since the E-Class (W123) was Germany’s best-selling car in 1980 – the last time the VW Golf failed to lead the list in a full calendar year.

The VW Passat slipped from second last year to third with sales sharply down compared to 2016 and 2015. The VW Tiguan benefited from a model update and the general popularity of SUVs to move up from 7th to fourth. The Tiguan was the only major Volkswagen model selling more cars thus far in 2017 than a year ago.

The aging VW Polo slipped from 3rd to 5th – the new model should be delivered during the fourth quarter of 2017. The Audi A4 and Opel Astra each slipped one position from a year ago.

The Skoda Octavia improved one position with higher sales while the Opel Corsa improved one position despite weaker sales. Audi A3 sales were down by around 7,000 cars to slip from 8th to 10th.

The rest of the top 20 best-selling car models in Germany thus far in 2017 also included mostly the same cars from a year ago. The VW Touran remained at 11th while the Skoda Fabia improved one position.

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class shot onto the list from 24th a year ago while the BMW 5 Series is similarly a new entrant up from 30th a year ago – both models added around 9,000 cars each. The high-earning Audi A6 slipped one position to 20th with weaker sales.

The Mini and the Ford Focus swapped positions while the Seat Leon and BMW 1 Series kept their relative positions from a year ago. The BMW 2 Series slipped from 12th with sales sharply down.

The two cars slipping out of the top 20 list in Germany were the VW Transporter (20th to 21st) and the BMW 3 Series from 18th to 22nd.

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.