July Brings Growth to German True Fleets

The German passenger car market grew by 12.3% in July 2018, which represents the highest growth through the first seven months of 2018. The private market also posted strong growth, at 16.1% year-over-year, according to Dataforce.

This healthy growth has been, in part, fueled by the prolongation of attractive offers by OEMs for private customers replacing their older diesel cars. Registrations on rentals, dealerships, and manufacturers increased by 12.4%, although cumulated results for July are still negative.

As for true fleets, after two relatively weak months, July experienced a 6.7% increase, which brought the fleet channel back to year-to-date growth of 1.0%.

Brand Performance

From a brand perspective, July registrations were up 24.2% for Volkswagen, which resulted in a market share of 24.2% for the company in Germany. Volkswagen subsidiaries also had strong performances during July. Audi registrations grew by 11.4%; Škoda registrations were up 13.6%; Porsche registrations were up 58.0%; and SEAT registrations were up 46.2%.

Healthy XC40 and second-generation XC60 registrations also helped Volvo achieve a 38% rise in registrations. Year-over-year, the XC60 has more than doubled its volume. In terms of medium-sized SUVs, the XC60 ranked fourth in registrations during July, behind Mercedes GLC, Audi Q5, and BMW X3.

In an environment where SUV sales are outpacing sedan sales, the Porsche provided some hope for the sedan segment. During July, the Porsche 911 experienced a 77.1% increase in registrations. Through the first seven months of 2018, the 911 has experienced a 56.7% increase, making 2018 the first year in which the 911 has achieved a volume of over 2,000 new registrations through the first seven months.

Through the first seven months of this year, the Porsche 911 accounts for 35.4% of the company’s true fleet registrations while the Cayenne represents a share of 23.6%.

As for top sellers for other manufacturers, the top selling model for Mazda is the CX-5, for Škoda it’s the Octavia, for Volkswagen it’s the Golf, and for Renault it’s the Captur.

One thing to note about Volkswagen is that, a year ago, the Passat was the most popular company car in Germany. This year, the Golf has secured the top spot for more than twelve months now.