A striking boost in Germany: more new cars were sold there in September than in the same month last year. More sales in 2020 than in 2019, which has not happened since January.
After a good month of January, sales of new passenger cars in Germany in February and March already fell below the level of last year, with April as the absolute low. Although it picked up somewhat towards the summer, it remained below last year’s level. Until last month: when it was no less than 8.4 percent higher than in September 2019 with 265,227 new cars sold. figures from KBA (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt). What makes it extra striking is that in August (after an almost 2019 level in July) sales fell again sharply compared to 2019. For the whole of 2020 (so far), the counter is still stuck at 25.5 percent less sales than last year.
September was also a good month in Germany for the sale of used cars. 664,086 passenger cars changed hands, 12 percent more than last year in the ninth month. Although, just like in the Netherlands, the used car market has picked up considerably after the ‘first wave’, it is not yet at the level of last year. To date, 4.2 percent fewer used passenger cars have changed hands than last year. The revival has not yet fully compensated for the dip in the spring.
Brands
Back to the sale of new cars at our eastern neighbors. This year’s absolute percentage stunner is Tesla. That is the only brand that sells more new cars in Germany this year than last year. The number of Teslas sold to date grew 24.5 percent compared to 2019. In September, the brand even recorded a plus of 82.7 percent compared to that month last year, 3,065 new Teslas found their first owner last month. Last month, Seat (+71.1 percent), Subaru (+70.4 percent) and Alfa Romeo (+59.5 percent) also performed remarkably well compared to September 2019. Audi is the biggest climber of the ‘own’ brands , with +42.4 percent. Brands such as Volkswagen (+1.6 percent) and BMW and Mercedes (both +1.9 percent) show more modest growth. Big losers are DS (-41.5 percent), Smart (-41.2 percent), SsangYong (-29 percent), Opel (-27.6 percent), Mazda (-24.7 percent) and Porsche (-19 , 7 percent).