The Swiss car market contracted by 5% during the first quarter of 2014. Volkswagen remains the top-selling marque followed by BMW and Skoda. The VW Golf is still the most popular car model in Switzerland.
New passenger vehicle registrations in Switzerland were down 4.7% during the first three months of 2014. The decline in car sales was widely expected after 2013 had been the second strongest year on record. Volkswagen remained the strongest car marque in Switzerland during the first quarter of 2014 by selling nearly double the number of cars of second place BMW. The VW Golf remains the favorite car model of Swiss car buyers.
The Swiss Car Market in 2014 (Q1)
The Swiss car market contracted by 4.7% during the first quarter of 2014 to 68,395 new passenger vehicle registrations. After the record car sales in 2013, a contraction of the Swiss car market was widely expected.
The popularity of four-wheel-drive vehicles in Switzerland continues to increase during the first three months of 2014. The share of 4 x 4 vehicles of the new car market in Switzerland has increased by 3.2% to 39.1%.
Best-Selling Car Brands in Switzerland in 2014 (Q1)
The most popular car marques in Switzerland during the first quarter of 2014 according to car sales statistics released by Auto Schweiz were:
| Car Brand | Â 2014 (Q1) | Â 2013 (Q1) | Â % Share | +/- % | |
| TOTAL | 68’395 | 71’751 | 100.0 | -4.7 | |
| 1 | Volkswagen | 8’154 | 8’305 | 11.9 | -1.8 |
| 2 | BMW | 4’666 | 4’294 | 6.8 | 8.7 |
| 3 | Skoda | 4’430 | 4’485 | 6.5 | -1.2 |
| 4 | Mercedes | 4’135 | 4’110 | 6.0 | 0.6 |
| 5 | Audi | 3’963 | 4’787 | 5.8 | -17.2 |
| 6 | Opel | 3’395 | 3’345 | 5.0 | 1.5 |
| 7 | Ford | 2’695 | 3’339 | 3.9 | -19.3 |
| 8 | Hyundai | 2’681 | 2’261 | 3.9 | 18.6 |
| 9 | Renault | 2’595 | 3’175 | 3.8 | -18.3 |
| 10 | Peugeot | 2’565 | 2’763 | 3.8 | -7.2 |
| 11 | Toyota | 2’520 | 3’082 | 3.7 | -18.2 |
| 12 | Citroën | 2’403 | 2’331 | 3.5 | 3.1 |
| 13 | Mazda | 2’182 | 2’106 | 3.2 | 3.6 |
| 14 | Fiat | 2’168 | 2’352 | 3.2 | -7.8 |
| 15 | Nissan | 2’167 | 2’243 | 3.2 | -3.4 |
| 16 | Seat | 2’026 | 1’826 | 3.0 | 11.0 |
| 17 | Suzuki | 1’907 | 2’058 | 2.8 | -7.3 |
| 18 | Volvo | 1’869 | 2’049 | 2.7 | -8.8 |
| 19 | Subaru | 1’384 | 1’669 | 2.0 | -17.1 |
| 20 | Honda | 1’255 | 1’985 | 1.8 | -36.8 |
| 21 | Dacia | 1’209 | 1’305 | 1.8 | -7.4 |
| 22 | Kia | 1’166 | 909 | 1.7 | 28.3 |
| 23 | Chevrolet | 993 | 960 | 1.5 | 3.4 |
| 24 | Land-Rover | 956 | 864 | 1.4 | 10.6 |
| 25 | MINI | 810 | 977 | 1.2 | -17.1 |
| 26 | Mitsubishi | 728 | 1’015 | 1.1 | -28.3 |
| 27 | Jeep | 639 | 459 | 0.9 | 39.2 |
| 28 | Alfa Romeo | 482 | 533 | 0.7 | -9.6 |
| 29 | Porsche | 456 | 618 | 0.7 | -26.2 |
| 30 | Smart | 416 | 379 | 0.6 | 9.8 |
| Quelle: auto-schweiz / ASTRA/MOFIS | |||||
Top-Selling Car Manufacturers in Switzerland in 2014 (Q1)
Volkswagen easily remained the most popular car brand in Switzerland during the first three months of 2014. Despite slightly weaker sales, VW still sold almost double the number of cars in Switzerland that BMW delivered during the first quarter of 2014.
BMW’s strong performance in Switzerland saw the German company move up to second place from fourth a year ago. Skoda maintained third place despite slightly weaker sales.
Mercedes-Benz moved up one place despite flat sales. Audi had a very weak first quarter of 2014 and slipped from second place last year to only fifth in 2014 (Q1).
Opel and Ford maintained the same positions as a year ago. Opel had slightly better sales while Ford lost another fifth of sales during the first three months of 2014.
Hyundai was the most improved of the top-20 car brands in Switzerland during the first quarter of 2014 allowing it to move to eighth place from 13 th a year ago. Renault slipped one place with very weak sales. Despite weak sales, Peugeot maintained its tenth position mostly due to Toyota slipping from 9th to 11th with an even weaker performance.
The 31st most popular car brand in Switzerland is Maserati, which saw sales increase by 1,125% to 196 cars (up from 16 a year ago) sold during the first three months of 2014.
Best-Selling Car Models in Switzerland in 2014 (Q1)
The top-selling car models in Switzerland during the first three months of 2014 according to Auto Schweiz were
| Make | Model | Cars Sold 2014 (Q1) | |
| 1 | VW | Golf | 2’690 |
| 2 | Skoda | Octavia | 2’444 |
| 3 | VW | Tiguan | 1’140 |
| 4 | BMW | 3 Series | 1’074 |
| 5 | Audi | A3 | 934 |
| 6 | Seat | Leon | 925 |
| 7 | Nissan | Qashqai | 913 |
| 8 | VW | Polo | 859 |
| 9 | Mercedes-Benz | A Class | 845 |
| 10 | Peugeot | 208 | 830 |
| 11 | Mazda | CX-5 | 800 |
| 12 | BMW | X3 | 767 |
| 12 | Opel | Mokka | 767 |
| 14 | VW | Touran | 762 |
| 15 | VW | Passat | 758 |
| 16 | Hyundai | i20 | 747 |
| 17 | Audi | A4 | 729 |
| 18 | Mercedes-Benz | C Class | 708 |
| 19 | Hyundai | i30 | 684 |
| 20 | Fiat | 500 | 674 |
Top Ten Best-Selling Car Models in Switzerland in 2014 (Q1)
The highly competitive Swiss car market usually sees many changes in the composition of the top-ten list of most popular car models. However, at the top it was business as usual with the VW Golf still narrowly outselling the Skoda Octavia. A year ago, the Golf was only 29 vehicles ahead of the Octavia.
The third most popular car in Switzerland during the first quarter of 2014 was the VW Tiguan – up from 8th a year ago, while the BMW 3 Series improved to fourth from tenth a year ago.
The Audi A3 and Seat Leon at fifth and sixth were not amongst the top-20 most popular cars in Switzerland a year ago. In contrast, the Audi A4, the fourth most popular car in Switzerland during the first quarter of 2013, slipped to 17th place this year.
The Nissan Qashqai improved two places to seventh. The VW Polo, which is due a facelift in coming months, slipped from third a year ago to ninth.
The Mercedes A-Class improved from 14th to ninth while the Peugeot 208 slipped from fifth to tenth during the first quarter of 2014.
Last year’s joint sixth placeholders – the Toyota Yaris and Renault Clio – slipped to 25th and 26th this year. Despite this slip, only two car sales separate these two models, which should benefit from model updates.
