The Premium brands are among the big winners of the car year so far. According to the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA), domestic and foreign manufacturers have increased double-digit numbers for new registrations in Germany.
At Jaguar, for example, there is an increase of 115 percent in November, mainly driven by the new SUV model F-Pace. Overall, the brand remains small with 734 new registrations, even though almost 8.200 new vehicles were registered in the course of the year (plus 76 percent). Things are also going well with the sister brand Land Rover: the off-road vehicle specialists had 1.900 new registrations (plus 9,8 percent) in November, and 20.800 units (plus 25 percent) in the previous year - and that without new volume models.
The growth at Volvo is also driven by innovations. Thanks to the new 90 series, the Swedes increased by 20 percent (3.600 units) in November and by eight percent (35.000 units) since January. Long-term patient Alfa Romeo has 403 new registrations in November (plus 80 percent) and 3.800 in the course of the year (plus 48 percent) thanks to the new Guilia mid-range model.
The large German manufacturers are also up, even if this is less obvious due to the higher base level. Mercedes increased to 28.500 vehicles in November (plus 10 percent), and the annual balance sheet is similarly positive with an increase of 8,6 percent. At Audi, there was a 5,9 percent drop in November to 20.500 new vehicles, but the annual result is 271.000 percent up at 7,4 vehicles. At BMW, the figures for November are 22.300 units and plus 7,9 percent, for the first eleven months of 2016 239.000 units and plus six percent. Porsche grew by 24 percent to 2.400 vehicles in November, and since January the Stuttgart-based company has increased by 2,1 percent (27.800 units).
A total of 276.567 new cars were registered in Germany in November. This corresponds to an increase of 1,5 percent compared to the same month in the previous year. In the first eleven months, 3,095 million new cars were found, 4,6 percent more than in the same period in 2015. (Holger Holzer / SP-X)