German True Fleet builds on last month’s narrow gain

The German car market has seemingly shaken off last month’s slightly gloomy outcome to push into a more positive position. Finishing with a + 3.9% for the Total Market or a little under 273,000 registrations, consumers seem to have returned to the marketplace. Private registrations were up 9.8% over October 2016 and grew its YTD (year-to-date) growth percentage to 3.2%. True Fleets produced a solid 2.9% growth for the month while Special Channels were the only segment to record a negative growth with a - 0.9%.

A game of two halves for True Fleet Top 10 OEMs
Gains and losses were equally split for OEMs in October’s True Fleet channel though the majority of gains were made in the lower ranks. VW retained the crown (as would be expected) while Mercedes leapfrogged Audi (3rd) to take 2nd position with a + 22.2% growth. The next five OEMs all retained their standings from last October with two of these managing to achieve a positive month in comparison. BMW (4th), Ford (5th) and Opel (7th) just entered negative territory, with the newly acquired manufacturer from Rüsselsheim a mere 11 units away from a positive result.

Skoda (6th) produced a solid display with + 20.9% surge but it was the two French manufacturers Renault and Peugeot who were the month’s growth superstars. Renault (8th) jumped 47.6% with some standout figures achieved by both the Megane and Scenic and was the last OEM to retain its positon. However, its country compatriot Peugeot (9th) delivered a + 157.0% gain, jumping 4 places, with noteworthy growths from the 208, 3008, 5008 and Expert. SEAT (10th) completed the Top 10 with a positive month and a + 33.2% though it dropped a rank from last year’s 9th place.

Robust growth for fleet size 75-99 cars
For the German market we have the ability to segment the True Fleet channel by fleet size and our interest was piqued in the 75-99 category where unusual growth peaks were recorded for certain regions. October was a very significant month in terms of growth as it outshone last year’s numbers by an extremely healthy 58.3% and has the 2nd highest YTD expansion of 12.0% (150–199 is highest with 16.5%). For lots of our fleet size groupings we see the German brands dominating the ranking but here it was a French brand.

Renault is seemingly unstoppable in their 2018 growth and currently stands at + 47.6% YTD but surprisingly it is within the fuel segment where they seem to have stolen a march on the German brands. Currently outselling the nearest petrol rival by over 4 to 1 and currently sitting at + 200.2% for the YTD it is clear the appetite away from diesel has certainly helped Renault to dominate this fleet size segment.

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DATAFORCE – Focus on Fleets
Dataforce is the leading provider of fleet market data and automotive intelligence solutions in Europe. In addition, the company also provides detailed information on sales opportunities for the automotive industry, together with a wide portfolio of information based on primary market research and consulting services. The company is based in Frankfurt, Germany.

Richard Worrow
Dataforce Verlagsgesellschaft für Business Informationen mbH
Hamburger Allee 14
60486 Frankfurt am Main
Germany

Phone: +49 69 95930-253
Fax: +49 69 95930-333
Email: richard.worrow@dataforce.de
www.dataforce.de

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