German New Car Sales Accelerate in December fueled by strong fleet demand and the 2014 was back above the 3 million units despite a weakening domestic economy. Volkswagen Group beats Toyota in the global race.
In December 2014 according to data released by V.D.A. (Verband der Automobilindustrie) and V.D.I.K. (Association of International Motor Vehicles Manufacturers), the new Car Passengers sold in Germany have been 229.700, up 6.7% compared with the correspondent month last year.
Full Year 2014 sales in Germany have been 3.036.773, up 2.9%, the third worse out of last ten years.
The 2014 market growth was driven upward by demand for SUVs and premium models, with Chrysler’s Jeep and Porsche among the top-performing brands.
As anticipated by focus2move early this month, the German Group Volkswagen hit a milestone in the 2014, outpacing Toyota Group as global sales registrations. This is the first time that a European producer is on top of the world. The 2014 global ranking is available here.
In December, Volkswagen domestic sales were 49.634 (+1.1% y.o.y) with share at 21.7%. Full Year sales were 656.494 (+2.2%).
Mercedes follows with sales at 22.280 (+16.1%) and share at 8.9%. Full Year sales had been 272.566 (-1.7%).
BMW outpaced Audi for the third step of the podium with 19.878 sales with a robust +17.5%.
Thanks to the renovated line-up, Smart was the fastest growing brand with 2.844 sales (+115.1%). Others remarkable performances were scored by Volvo (18th with 3.205 units, +52.1%), Jeep (26th with 1.169 sales, +94.2%), Tesla and Maserati.
As far as the Car Groups performance and ranking, Volkswagen was on top with 38.4% of market share, ahead of Mercedes-Daimler with 10.1% and BMW with 9.8%.
As far as Best-selling models performance and ranking,, the Volkswagen Golf led with 19.416 sales (+20.1%) ahead of Mercedes C Class with 5.642 units (+79.6%) and Volkswagen Passat with 5.581 units (+24.9%).
