In June 2019 new passenger car registrations in Switzerland were down sharply on the same month last year. Nearly 28,000 registered passenger cars represent an overall market decline of 11.2%. Registrations of light commercial vehicles fell even more sharply (11.9%).
Weak June causes passenger car market to fall below previous year’s level
Both the Private Market (‑ 13.9%) and the commercial market (‑ 8.4%) can look back on a weak June.
A deeper look at the various commercial channels also paints a similar picture: The True Fleet Market suffered a ‑ 12.2% compared to the same month last year. While Short Term Rental registrations also fell by 13.6%, registrations in the dealer/manufacturer channel at least maintained the previous year’s level (+ 0.2%).
Half-year balance – Tactical trade registrations dominate market activity
Due to the weak June, the overall market cumulated fell slightly below the previous year’s level (‑ 0.8%). For the Private Market, a comparison with the prior-year period for the first half of 2019 shows a 4.3% decline in registrations. The True Fleet market fell by 9.3% in the same period, while Short-Term Rental registrations were almost exactly at the previous year’s level. Unsurprisingly Dealer/Manufacturer registrations recorded extraordinary growth (+ 23.1 %). Also one of the possible explanations for some of the increase would be the new RDE tests that will come into force on September 1, 2019, which measure emissions in practical driving operations and will then become mandatory for all models from that date.
True Fleet market: Volkswagen ahead of Skoda and BMW
In the True Fleet market, Volkswagen defended first place in the importer ranking for the first half of 2019 despite a slight decline in volume (‑ 2.2%). With a market share of 12.8%, the Wolfsburg-based company was just ahead of its sister company Skoda (12.5%) and BMW (10.2%). Among the top 20 brands, four brands successfully defended themselves against the declining trend. Tesla (+ 232.9%), Jeep (+ 19.0%), Škoda (+ 15.9%) and SEAT (+ 14.6%) recorded significant growth over the same period last year.
Light commercial vehicles with positive half-year results
Even if the registrations of light commercial vehicles up to 3.5t had to put up with a small damper in June, this does not diminish the positive half-year results. With more than 20,800 registered vehicles a growth of 9.4% was achieved on the overall market at mid-year. In addition to the Private market (+ 13.6%), the commercial registrations from the True Fleet market (+ 5.2%) as well as registrations by Short-Term Rental companies (+ 34.6%) and Dealers/Manufacturers (+ 29.3%), were also able to record a greater growth here.
Volkswagen also leads the importer ranking for light commercial vehicles in the True Fleet market with a market share of 19.0%. Ford, Mercedes and Renault follow closely behind with market shares of between 13% and 14%. Within the top 10 importer brands, Renault (+ 32.0%), Ford (+ 13.8%) and Iveco (+ 6.9%) have been able to achieve higher growth rates when compared with the same period of the previous year.
