Five winners and losers of the 2021 car year

Its sister model, the Opel Corsa, has been registered 44,580 times – making it one of the ten best-selling cars in Germany. But compared to the previous year, the new Corsa registrations have decreased – unlike the Peugeot 208.

Winner – 4th place: Land Rover Defender

The grandfather of SUVs is back. The British had to discontinue the original model due to new safety requirements, and they worked on a new edition for years. It is now there and not only up to date, but also successful. With 2,637 new registrations, the model was able to double the number compared to the previous year. The Defender also accounts for around a quarter of Jaguar Land Rover sales in Germany.

The big rival – the Mercedes G-Class – sold better with 3420 new registrations, but sales fell slightly compared to the previous year.

Winner – 3rd place: VW ID.3

The ID.3 is actually supposed to become the “new Golf” for electromobility. So far, it is still lagging behind this expectation: It is currently not even the Group’s best-selling electric car. This is the E-Up that can no longer be ordered.

But the prospects for the ID.3 are good: The registration numbers of the model, which has been delivered since mid-2020, more than tripled in 2021, with 25,200 vehicles registered so far. If Volkswagen gets the chip shortage under control, the model is likely to continue to be a growth driver for the group in the coming automotive year, while some traditional successful models are weakening. Since December is traditionally a good month to polish up the CO2 balance, the ID.3 is likely to make another final spurt in terms of approval.

Winner – 2nd place: Mercedes S-Class

The record profits in 2021 show it: Daimler delivered a new series of the S-Class from December 2020. The luxury sedan is the Swabian most profitable model and saves Mercedes’ balance sheet.

The S-Class is undoubtedly one of the big winners in the car market: With 5506 new registrations, sales rose by a whopping 60 percent. The new S-Class easily leaves its competitors behind on its home market: the Audi A8 had only 1,638 new registrations in 2021 (minus 24 percent), the BMW 8 Series 1,841 new registrations (minus 17 percent)

Winner – 1st place: Tesla Model 3

With 29,166 new registrations, the mass-produced model from the Californians was not only the best-selling electric car in Germany, it was also sold more than twice as often as in the previous year. Despite many new competitors, Tesla continues to grow very dynamically, which should also cause a stir in the German auto industry. Model 3 alone is currently selling better than all of the electric models from BMW and Mercedes combined.

Even the VW ID.3 has so far not been able to wrest the electric crown from Tesla. At the moment, all American cars have to be imported at great expense. So Tesla’s growth could continue in 2022. Because then production starts in the new Gigafactory near Berlin, and with the Model Y a new bestseller should appear on the scene.

Loser – 5th place: Audi A4

As a result of the ongoing chip crisis, Audi’s sales have declined overall. But the Audi A4 was hit particularly hard. New registrations of the popular company car, which was last refreshed in 2019, fell by a third to 21,900 vehicles, while competitors such as the BMW 3 Series did much better.

As a result, the A4 is also losing its importance in the brand’s internal ranking: in 2020 the A4 was still the best-selling Audi, in 2021 it will only land in fourth place behind the A3, Q3 and A6.

Loser – 4th place: Mercedes A- and B-Class

CEO Ola Källenius is aligning the brand to the upper class and apparently saving himself the production of the less lucrative compact models during the chip crisis. New registrations of the A-Class fell by 42 percent to around 23,000 vehicles compared to last year. In the case of the B-Class, they have almost halved; only 9,300 were registered in Germany in the current year 2021.

While the group’s small sedans are weakening, the entry-level SUV can at least gain something. The GLA increased its sales by 28 percent compared to the previous year. Only sales of the S-Class increased more strongly.

Loser – 3rd place: Skoda Octavia

For years the Czech was Germany’s best-selling import model. But the Skoda Octavia will have to give up this title this year. With 36,500 registered vehicles, new registrations are still quite decent – but 22 percent lower than in the previous year.

While the Czech Golf brother is weak, an Italian pulls by: the Fiat Ducato, which is often converted into a camper, is benefiting from the camping boom and has so far been registered around 40,000 times in Germany.

Loser – 2nd place: VW Golf

The eternal number one in German registration statistics is stuck in the crisis of meaning. The new generation with its quality problems caused complaints even among loyal customers. Not only the group itself was overwhelmed by the high software requirements of the new edition.

With 85,800 new registrations, the Golf defended its top position – but that is almost 40,000 fewer cars than in the previous year. Every fourth Volkswagen sold in 2020 was a Golf. This year it’s only one in five. The model is still comparatively fresh.

Loser – 1st place: Ford Fiesta and Ford Focus

The real Cologne is actually a guarantee of success. But persistent production stops have caused new registrations in Germany to collapse. The Federal Motor Transport Authority registered around 12,600 new registrations by the end of November, a full 60 percent fewer than in the previous year.

And it hits another bestseller of the group: The Ford Focus, which is actually supposed to hunt down the VW Golf, only sold 20,000 times. The model was registered 50,000 times in the previous year. In the internal brand ranking, the Ford Kuga has overtaken the former bestsellers.

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