German passenger car market 2017 increases to 3.43 million new registrations – Market share of VDIK members with 38 percent at new record high

Frankfurt. The passenger car market in Germany developed even more positively than expected a year ago. The year 2017 will conclude with an estimated million new registrations of passenger cars. This represents the highest volume in the German passenger car market for eight years, equivalent to an increase of 80,000 units or 2.3 percent. The VDIK members increased their sales by 7 percent.

VDIK President Reinhard Zirpel: “From today’s perspective, the growth of the overall market can be attributed solely to the significantly increased sales of the international motor vehicle manufacturers.”

Disproportionately strong growing private market

In 2017, around million private registrations were made, equal to a growth of more than 3 percent. The fleet market grew by a further 2 percent this year after a record volume in 2016. With an increase of 1.4 percent, the registrations on the motor vehicle industry itself as well as for the car rental companies grew less than the overall market.

VDIK members grow in private and fleet market

The growth of the VDIK member companies was 10 percent in the private market and their market share of private registrations increased from 43.6 percent to 46 percent. The VDIK member companies were also particularly successful in the fleet market, increasing by 14 percent and increasing their market share from 25.7 to 29 percent.

Overall, the VDIK member companies increased their market share to around 38 percent and thus achieved the best result since the association was founded, not taking the year of the environmental bonus into account. In total, they sold around 1.3 million passenger cars in Germany in 2017.

New registrations of petrol cars compensate for the decline in diesel passenger cars

In 2017, more than 1.9 million gasoline-powered vehicles were newly registered, an estimated increase of 12 percent. The registrations of passenger cars with diesel engines decreased by 12 percent and complete the year with over million registrations. The share of diesel passenger cars in total sales decreased from 46 to 40 percent. The share of diesel in private new registrations dropped to 23 and with fleet operators to 66 percent.

Strong percentage growth in passenger cars with alternative drives

Alternative drives increased by 80 percent compared to the previous year and their share of total sales rose to over 3 percent in 2017. The best selling type of alternative drive, the hybrid without plug-in, increased by 69 percent to approx. 57,000 units. These vehicles originate almost exclusively from VDIK member companies. New registrations of passenger cars with pure electric drive improved their previous year’s result with approx. 24,000 units by 110 percent. The plug-in hybrids exceeded the previous year by 118 percent and achieved about 30,000 registrations. New registrations of passenger cars with gas engines cannot yet compete with the numbers of hybrid and electric vehicles.

SUVs second largest segment after the compact class

While demand for mid-range and compact passenger cars declined, small cars recorded a slight increase of 3 percent and SUVs at 22 percent a strong increase. The private market share of SUVs is almost 50 percent and their diesel share declined from 45 to 33 percent compared to the previous year.

Good prospects for the passenger car market in 2018

VDIK President Reinhard Zirpel: “We expect that both the private and the fleet market will continue to develop positively in the coming year and therefore see good opportunities to continue the very positive trend of the current year.”