2021 (Germany): Top 50 Car Models Registered for Use on German Roads

At the start of 2021, the Volkswagen Golf, VW Polo, and Opel Corsa were the most common car models registered for use on public roads in Germany.

On January 1, 2021, the Volkswagen Golf was the most registered car model for use on public roads in Germany but the mix of the most popular cars on German roads is getting more varied with the top-ten models all declining in volume numbers. The VW Polo was the second most popular car model in Germany in 2021 followed by the Opel Corsa and Astra. The most common Mercedes-Benz model in Germany was the C-Class while the 3 Serie is the most frequently seen BMW and the A4 the top Audi.

Total Number of Cars in Germany in 2021

At the start of 2021, the total number of passenger vehicles registered for use on public roads in Germany was 48,248,548 cars — an increase of 1.1%. Volkswagen remained by far the most common car brand seen in Germany with more than a fifth of the total German car parc. Mercedes-Benz was the second most common car brand in Germany followed by Opel and Ford.

See 2021: Germany – Total Number of Registered Cars By Brand for the leading brands, market development, and composition of the German car parc.

Top 50 Car Models in Use in Germany in 2021

The 50 most common car models registered for use on public roads in Germany on January 1, 2021, according to the KBA were:

	Brand and Model	2021	2020	% Change
1	VW GOLF	3,692,755	3,728,097	-0.9
2	VW POLO	1,468,723	1,499,151	-2.0
3	OPEL CORSA	1,175,634	1,193,801	-1.5
4	OPEL ASTRA	1,128,482	1,193,338	-5.4
5	MERCEDES C-KLASSE	1,054,624	1,073,056	-1.7
6	BMW 3ER	1,044,910	1,070,649	-2.4
7	VW PASSAT	1,004,436	1,030,519	-2.5
8	AUDI A4, S4, RS4	905,687	940,444	-3.7
9	FORD FIESTA	866,095	876,200	-1.2
10	FORD FOCUS	838,804	845,262	-0.8
11	SKODA FABIA	814,867	810,494	0.5
12	AUDI A3, S3, RS3	756,530	761,011	-0.6
13	SKODA OCTAVIA	701,685	681,942	2.9
14	MERCEDES A-KLASSE	690,883	690,793	0.0
15	MERCEDES E-KLASSE	665,060	671,437	-0.9
16	VW TOURAN	657,701	662,794	-0.8
17	VW TIGUAN	647,035	604,616	7.0
18	BMW 1ER	595,564	585,671	1.7
19	VW TRANSPORTER	571,074	560,717	1.8
20	BMW 5ER	533,648	546,006	-2.3
21	MINI MINI	503,758	475,587	5.9
22	AUDI A6, S6, RS6	473,037	469,803	0.7
23	MERCEDES B-KLASSE	459,270	449,033	2.3
24	SEAT IBIZA	419,291	418,742	0.1
25	VW CADDY	417,223	400,944	4.1
26	SEAT LEON	403,303	374,297	7.7
27	SMART FORTWO	397,726	397,935	-0.1
28	OPEL MERIVA	385,646	403,909	-4.5
29	RENAULT CLIO	381,627	387,277	-1.5
30	TOYOTA YARIS	349,747	346,133	1.0
31	RENAULT TWINGO	349,456	358,370	-2.5
32	OPEL ZAFIRA	345,972	374,086	-7.5
33	FIAT DUCATO	323,739	282,285	14.7
34	FIAT 500	318,070	290,061	9.7
35	VW UP	314,027	292,333	7.4
36	FORD KUGA	301,513	279,736	7.8
37	HYUNDAI I 30	294,453	282,605	4.2
38	NISSAN QASHQAI	269,418	264,196	2.0
39	FORD MONDEO	266,269	285,303	-6.7
40	BMW X1	258,654	239,286	8.1
41	RENAULT MEGANE	255,446	272,236	-6.2
42	MERCEDES GLK, GLC	242,907	212,725	14.2
43	DACIA SANDERO	236,931	225,118	5.2
44	BMW X3	226,914	212,715	6.7
45	NISSAN MICRA	224,446	233,124	-3.7
46	HYUNDAI I 10	224,331	214,482	4.6
47	BMW 2ER	210,039	189,763	10.7
48	HYUNDAI I 20	207,345	191,901	8.0
49	OPEL INSIGNIA	206,189	204,065	1.0
50	FIAT PUNTO	202,061	223,977	-9.8

Top 10 Car Models in Germany

As the German car parc reflects the sales of car sales over many years, there is no real surprise in the composition of the top ten list of the most common model plate names in use on German roads in 2021. There were no changes in the rank order compared to 2020 but although the total number of cars in Germany increased slightly, all of the top ten models had fewer volumes in 2021 than a year ago.

The Volkswagen Golf has been the top-selling car model in Germany for 40 years, so it is also the most common car in use. At the start of 2021, there were 3,692,755 Golfs registered for use in Germany — more than the combined total of any brands other than VW, Mercedes-Benz, and Opel. In 2020, only 136,324 Golfs were sold in German while 204,550 were sold in 2019.

Despite selling weakly in recent months, the VW Polo remained the second most seen car in Germany. It was comfortably ahead of the Opel Corsa and Opel Astra. In contrast to the Corsa, Astra sales were dismal in recent years — a new model is expected by the end of 2021. While the difference between the Corsa and Astra was only around 500 cars a year ago, the gap has grown to nearly 50,000.

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class and BMW 3-Series are the leading so-called premium models — the lead of the C-Class increased from around 2.500 cars a year ago to 10,000. The VW Passat was the only other car model with over a million cars on German roads in 2021.

The number of Audi A4s declined by 3.7% — only the Opel Astra performed worse among the top ten car models in Germany in 2021.

The Ford Fiesta and Ford Focus rounded out the top ten — despite weak sales in recent years, these two models generally outperformed the other top ten models.

Favorite Cars in Germany

A few further interesting models from the KBA statistics:

• The Skoda Fabia was the highest-ranked car at 11th to increase the actual number of cars in use in Germany in 2021. The Fabia was also the most common foreign car nameplate in use in Germany.
• The only model rank change amongst the top 20 cars was the Skoda Octavia moving ahead of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class.
• The top foreign car model from a brand without a German ownership or manufacturing link was the Renault Clio at 29th followed by the Toyota Yaris at 30th.
• The most common Porsche model in Germany was the 911 with 129,608 (+4.2%) at 83rd. The VW Jetta at 71,669 (-9.5%) at 138th is a more exclusive choice.

German Car Sales Statistics — 2022: Market Overview, Brands, Models, Electric; 2021: Market, Brands, Models, Electric; 2020: Market, Brands, Models, Electric; 2019: Market, Brands, Models, Electric