2017 (Q1) Switzerland: Best-Selling Car Brands and Models

At the start of 2017 Volkswagen remained the best-selling carmaker in Switzerland but the Skoda Octavia was the top-selling car model.

New passenger vehicle registrations in Switzerland during the first quarter of 2017 expanded by only 1.1% to 72,769 cars. Volkswagen remained the largest carmaker despite loosing market share. Mercedes-Benz and BMW were again the second and third best-selling car brands in Switzerland in 2017. The Skoda Octavia was the favorite car model of the Swiss during the first three months of 2017.

The Swiss New Car Market in 2017 (Q1)

New passenger vehicle registrations in Switzerland increased by a weak 1.1% to 72,769 cars during the first three months of 2017.

Sales of new 4×4 vehicles increased by a faster 9.8% to 34,050 cars – just below half of all new cars sold in Switzerland. Sales of diesel cars contracted by 2% to 27,789 cars. Electric car sales were up by 36.2% to 1,053 cars.

Best-Selling Car Brands in Switzerland in 2017 (Q1)

The following were the top 30 best-selling car marques in Switzerland during the first three months of 2017 according to Auto Schweiz:

Top-Selling Car Brands in Switzerland

Volkswagen remained the top-selling car brand in Switzerland during the first quarter of 2017 despite selling 15.5% fewer cars than a year ago. Mercedes-Benz in contrast increased sales by 11.5% to cut the gap to VW by more than 50%.

BMW and Skoda maintained their rank positions from a year ago despite weaker sales while a strong performance by Audi kept it as the fifth largest car brand in Switzerland during the first three months of 2017.

Opel increased sales by 5% to move ahead of Renault that had sales down by nearly 6%. Ford was again the 8th best-selling car brand in Switzerland.

Seat increased sales in Switzerland by nearly 50% to enter the top-ten list at 9th from 14th last year. Toyota was again the tenth largest car brand in Switzerland.

Peugeot slipped out of the top ten in Switzerland – down to 12th from 9th a year ago.

Alfa Romeo was the most-improved brand with sales up 240%. Alfa Romeo thus re-entered the top 30 list at 28th from 32nd. A strong performance by Jaguar allowed the British marque to improve one position.

DS (down 52%) and Lexus (down 33.3%) were the two brands dropping out of the top 30 list.

Best-Selling Car Models in Switzerland in 2017 (Q1)

The following were the top 20 best-selling car models in Switzerland during the first quarter of 2017 according to Auto Schweiz:

Exotic Cars in Switzerland in 2017 (Q1)

The Swiss new car market is highly competitive with Auto Schweiz listing more than 360 individual models sold during the first quarter of 2017. Exclusivity in Switzerland is hard to find. VW made it more difficult by taking the slow-selling Jetta off the Swiss market but the VW Beetle with 83 sold is as the 180th best-selling model clearly more exclusive than the Porsche 911 that came in at 120th.

Ferrari may be a better bet but the best-selling Ferrari 488 is with 39 registrations in Switzerland thus far this year the 230th most-popular car on the Swiss market – well ahead of the VW Scirocco with one sale. Ferrari sold four times as many LaFerraris.

The sales figures for a few more exotic models in Switzerland in 2017 according to Auto Schweiz:

Source: auto-schweiz / ASTRA/MOFIS