In full-year 2023, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and BMW were again the best-selling car brands in Germany while Skoda was again the the top foreign marque.
2023 (January to December): Volkswagen easily maintained its traditional position as Germany’s largest carmaker with VW the top-selling car brand. However, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and BMW all gained more market share. VW-owned Skoda and Seat were the favorite imported car brands with both marques also the most improved of the top ten largest car brands in Germany in 2023. Renault, Ford, and Tesla were the worst performers of the top 20 largest car brands in Germany with all selling fewer cars in 2023 than a year ago.
The total German new car market in 2023 expanded by 7.3% to 2,844,609 new passenger vehicle registrations. Volkswagen was again the best-selling car brand.
Latest German Car Sales Statistics: 2023 — Market Overview, Brands, Models, Electric, 2022-2007.
Best-Selling Car Brands in Germany in 2023 (Full Year)
The following were the 60 top-selling car marques in Germany in the full calendar year 2023 according to passenger vehicle registration data released by the KBA:
| Brand | Sales 2023 | Sales 2022 | % 22/23 | |
| TOTAL GERMAN CAR MARKET | 2,844,609 | 2,651,357 | +7.3 | |
| 1 | VW | 519,089 | 480,967 | +7.9 |
| 2 | MERCEDES | 277,352 | 243,999 | +13.7 |
| 3 | AUDI | 246,880 | 213,410 | +15.7 |
| 4 | BMW | 233,160 | 209,722 | +11.2 |
| 5 | SKODA | 168,561 | 143,928 | +17.1 |
| 6 | OPEL | 144,901 | 144,588 | +0.2 |
| 7 | SEAT | 132,624 | 111,646 | +18.8 |
| 8 | FORD | 116,578 | 131,256 | -11.2 |
| 9 | HYUNDAI | 106,381 | 105,074 | +1.2 |
| 10 | FIAT | 76,535 | 77,771 | -1.6 |
| 11 | TOYOTA | 75,199 | 78,366 | -4.0 |
| 12 | KIA | 74,589 | 76,139 | -2.0 |
| 13 | DACIA | 68,585 | 60,390 | +13.6 |
| 14 | RENAULT | 68,312 | 79,861 | -14.5 |
| 15 | TESLA | 63,685 | 69,963 | -9.0 |
| 16 | PEUGEOT | 46,836 | 45,220 | +3.6 |
| 17 | MAZDA | 46,413 | 35,008 | +32.6 |
| 18 | MINI | 45,938 | 40,142 | +14.4 |
| 19 | VOLVO | 44,739 | 36,605 | +22.2 |
| 20 | CITROEN | 39,894 | 36,687 | +8.7 |
| 21 | PORSCHE | 32,832 | 29,315 | +12.0 |
| 22 | NISSAN | 31,856 | 26,069 | +22.2 |
| 23 | SUZUKI | 25,121 | 15,583 | +61.2 |
| 24 | MG ROEWE | 21,232 | 15,684 | +35.4 |
| 25 | MITSUBISHI | 19,020 | 34,430 | -44.8 |
| 26 | SMART | 17,418 | 12,190 | +42.9 |
| 27 | JEEP | 15,276 | 17,184 | -11.1 |
| 28 | LAND ROVER | 13,779 | 12,148 | +13.4 |
| 29 | HONDA | 6,519 | 7,709 | -15.4 |
| 30 | POLESTAR | 6,288 | 7,008 | -10.3 |
| 31 | ALFA ROMEO | 6,198 | 3,657 | +69.5 |
| 32 | GWM | 4,660 | +19,316.7 | |
| 33 | SUBARU | 4,596 | 3,725 | +23.4 |
| 34 | BYD | 4,139 | X | |
| 35 | LEXUS | 3,259 | 2,746 | +18.7 |
| 36 | JAGUAR | 3,198 | 3,200 | -0.1 |
| 37 | DS | 2,390 | 3,955 | -39.6 |
| 38 | LYNK & CO | 2,291 | 6,626 | -65.4 |
| 39 | SSANGYONG | 2,223 | +18.1 | |
| 40 | MAN | 1,888 | +26.1 | |
| 41 | FERRARI | 1,652 | +8.6 | |
| 42 | NIO | 1,263 | +153.6 | |
| 43 | MASERATI | 1,047 | -8.8 | |
| 44 | INEOS | 966 | X | |
| 45 | LAMBORGHINI | 949 | -1.4 | |
| 46 | IVECO | 860 | -2.3 | |
| 47 | BENTLEY | 809 | -11.5 | |
| 48 | ASTON MARTIN | 463 | +27.2 | |
| 49 | ALPINE | 405 | +33.7 | |
| 50 | ROLLS ROYCE | 344 | +18.2 | |
| 51 | LOTUS | 321 | +161.0 | |
| 52 | CADILLAC | 307 | -7.3 | |
| 53 | FISKER | 239 | X | |
| 54 | LADA | 149 | -80.3 | |
| 55 | LUCID | 99 | X | |
| 56 | MAXUS | 64 | X | |
| 57 | MORGAN | 60 | -9.1 | |
| 58 | AIWAYS | 50 | X | |
| 59 | LEVC | 4 | -94.2 | |
| 60 | DAF TRUCKS | 3 | X | |
| SONSTIGE / OTHERS | 14,120 | |||
| Source: KBA |
Top-Selling Car Brands in Germany in 2023 (Full Year)
The top four best-selling car brands in Germany in 2023 were the same as in 2023. Volkswagen narrowly outsold the broader market to increase its market share to 18.2%. VW was also the top-selling electric car brand in Germany in 2023. However, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and BMW gained more market share with all three so-called premium luxury brands performing well.
VW-owned Skoda and Seat were the most improved top ten brands and also the top foreign brands in Germany in 2023. Each gained a rank position as Opel slipped to sixth with flat sales and Ford to eighth with sales in Germany down by 11.2%.
Hyundai maintained its ninth position despite flat sales and was again the top-selling foreign brand without any manufacturing or historical links to Germany. Fiat moved into tenth despite lower volume sales.
Renault dropped out of the top ten with the weakest performance of any top 20 brand — its performance in France in 2023 was dramatically more positive.
Tesla also dropped one rank position in Germany with sales volume lower in 2023 than in 2022.
The most-improved top-30 brands were Suzuki, Smart, and MG. The worst-performing top-30 brands in Germany in 2023 were Mitsubishi, Honda, and Renault.
The KBA increased the number of carmakers listed individually in the annual (and monthly) statistics, which would make it easier to track the performances of new brands and the expected push by Chinese carmakers into the German new car market.
German Car Sales Statistics 2023 (Full Year)
- Market Overview
- Best-Selling Car Brands
- Top-Selling Car Models
- Best-Selling Electric Cars
- Total Number of Cars in Germany by Brand
Latest German Car Sales Statistics: 2023 — Market Overview, Brands, Models, Electric, 2022-2007.
