These are the most successful cars in the corona crisis

In The German car registration statistics are like in the Bundesliga: It’s only exciting after number one. There is no getting around the VW Golf. If the Golf is only registered in four digits in a month, then there is a crisis. Not just in Wolfsburg, but throughout Germany: In 2019, VW sold an average of 17,000 Golfs in Germany every month. In April 2020 there are around two thirds less, namely only 5,700. Only in July 2020 will the bestseller from Wolfsburg return to normal with a good 16,000 new registrations.

The Corona crisis has shaken up the registration statistics in the first half of 2020. All car dealerships will be closed for a total of five weeks in March and April. At the same time, many registration offices only offer emergency operation. This leads to a historic slump in vehicle sales. And it washes up some surprises.

While the usual bestsellers are suffering, other car models are experiencing a strong spring – and some unexpected guests appear in the top 10 most recently registered new cars.

Corona crisis: These models benefit

How come the Fiat Ducato is in the top 10 for three months? Why is the Mitsubishi Space Star overtaking all Audi and BMW in May? There is no statistical trick behind this. Some models are experiencing above-average demand during the Corona crisis. Others are hit hard by the crisis.

The Fiat Ducato is traditionally Germany’s most successful platform for motorhomes. The great success of the model therefore points to strong growth in mobile homes. In fact, motorhomes are the only vehicle segment to grow significantly in the first half of 2020: where everyone else loses, sales here are up by 9.5 percent.

The inexpensive small car Mitsubishi Space Star benefits from a facelift and its competitive price: Around 7,000 euros as an entry-level offer make the well-equipped Japanese at times the most popular car among private customers. BMW X3 and Ford Focus benefit from the fact that other models, which are mainly popular in the fleet market, such as the VW Passat, Audi A4 and the Mercedes C-Class, cannot be consistently delivered and registered.

Most of the 50 best-selling models in Germany are losing significantly in the historic Corona crisis. At the end of May 2020, the Central Association of the German Motor Vehicle Industry reports: German dealerships are stockpiling unregistered new vehicles with a total value of 14.8 billion euros.

The majority of the usually best-selling new cars will reach a double-digit minus by July 2020. Sales of the Audi A3, Audi A4, BMW 2 Series and Mercedes C-Class fell particularly sharply, each falling by almost 40 percent. VW Touran and VW Transporter come to almost 50 percent minus. The Ford Kuga even ended up with a minus of 59 percent in its model change year.

Only a few models are up: In addition to Fiat Ducato (+21%) and Mitsubishi Space Star (+15%), these are the BMW 3 Series (+11%), Mercedes CLA (+61%), Renault Zoe (+54%) and VW T-Cross (+ 81%). The small VW SUV benefits statistically from the fact that it was only introduced in spring 2019. Many engine variants are only now available for the Mercedes CLA and BMW 3 Series, but the vehicles that are now approved were usually ordered before the Corona crisis.

The Renault Zoe, on the other hand, will benefit from the increased subsidies for electric cars at the beginning of 2020. The small car is one of the affordable electric cars, but above all one of those that are consistently available. In 2020, car dealers will sell a total of 8,119 electric cars in the first half of the year. This is an increase of 41 percent over the previous year and corresponds to a market share of 3.7 percent. In the second half of the year, the funding rate rose again significantly, so further growth can be expected here.

Market development in the corona crisis

The lockdown in March 2020 hits the industry largely unprepared. Immediately after the lockdown, however, the dealers are already trying to save the season: In April 2020, car dealers will quickly begin resuming their own registrations. The reason is likely to be the attempt to be able to offer cheaper vehicles that are already in the yard. This is shown by analyzes by the data service provider Dataforce.

In May 2020, the registration numbers recovered significantly: Compared to the lockdown month of April, they climbed 39 percent. Private customers are registering 26 percent more cars, and the vehicle trade is doubling its own registrations. Car rental companies have a lot to catch up on: They quadruple the number of their new registrations (+ 326%).

Overall, however, the new car market will not recover until June and July. Above all, the Dataforce analysts see catch-up effects: Many vehicles that are ordered at the beginning of 2020 are finally arriving at customers with a delay. July 2020 is only 6 percent behind the same month last year. For the year as a whole, the new car market is around 30 percent below the previous year’s level.

Used car market strong as a bear in summer

At the same time, the used car market is picking up again: June is already 14 percent above the previous year’s level, July 17 percent. 747,831 used vehicles change hands in the high summer month of July. One reason for the boom: The car dealers realize a higher price reduction by registering new vehicles themselves, which they use to win customers. These cars, advertised on mobile.de as daily registrations, are included in the statistics as used cars.

In the first half of the year, the registration offices recorded around 3.74 million changes in ownership. This corresponds to a decrease of almost 10 percent compared to the previous year – a good value compared to the 30 percent decrease in the new car market.

Mobile.de also clearly shows that the used car market is booming in summer. As early as May 2020, the platform was measuring 17.6 million individual visitors. Compared to the previous year, the volume of contacts in the direction of car dealerships increased by 20 percent in the same period. This is what mobile.de managing director Malte Krüger tells the industry magazine “Autohaus”. Usually summer in the car trade is more like the “pickle time”. This year, however, there is a lot to catch up on.