Fleet registrations in Switzerland fell in May 2020 by 53.9% compared with the same month last year, continuing declines exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Dataforce.

Despite the positive developments in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus, the Swiss passenger car market was again confronted with the severe impact of the pandemic in May; the overall passenger car market in Switzerland suffered a further slump of 51.8% compared with the same period last year, according to Dataforce.

In addition to passenger car registrations, registrations of light commercial vehicles up to 3.5 tons also dropped significantly. Both the private market (down 34.3%) and commercial registrations (down 37.8%) fell last May, causing the overall market to contract by 37.1% compared with the same month last year.

An analysis of interest in fuel types for Swiss company fleets showed a decline in the number of pure gasoline (down 51.2%) and diesel-powered (down 61.3%) cars. By contrast, mild hybrids recorded an increase.

Despite the pandemic, plug-in hybrids were also in high demand (up 103%), with the BMW X5, the Volvo XC60 and the Ford Kuga making up the top three. Registrations of electric vehicles declined by 38.2% compared to the same month last year.

Meanwhile, registrations of cars for short-term rental companies has slumped by 76.5% so far this year.

Within the top 10 importer brands of the fleet market, only Citroen (up 15.1%) and in particular, the Jumpy (up 45.5%) scored points with the fleet managers. In a weak market environment, only the Ford Ranger (up 9.1%) from among the top 15 fleet models was also able to generate growth compared to the same month last year.