German sales fall 3% despite surge in private demand

FRANKFURT -- New-car sales in Germany fell 3 percent in November to 290,150, the KBA motor vehicle authority said in a statement on Thursday.

Tesla, Fiat, Toyota and Renault bucked the market's downward slide with big volume gains, while Seat, VW brand and Ford saw their registrations drop steeply.

Tesla sales jumped 500 percent to 1,680 units for a 0.6 percent market share. The U.S. electric-car maker plans to open its first European factory near Berlin next July to build its bestseller, the Model 3 sedan, and the Model Y crossover. Tesla CEO Elon Musk hinted this month that the factory might also build a hatchback styled for European tastes.

Fiat registrations jumped by 43 percent, helped by new hybrid versions of its Panda minicar. Toyota brand's registrations rose by 33 percent and Renault, helped by the success of its Zoe electric car, had a sales gain of 29 percent.

Citroen and Opel had a good sales month, with registrations up 29 percent and 17 percent respectively.

German premium brands had a slow month, with Audi's volume up 3.1 percent, BMW up 1.4 percent and Mercedes-Benz up just 0.5 percent.

• Click here to download Germany's November sales by brand

Seat's sales plunged by 22 percent, VW brand registrations fell 18 percent and Ford's volume dropped by 16 percent.

November was the best month for sales to private customers since 2009, Reinhard Zirpel, president of the VDIK importers association, said in an emailed statement. A reduction in value added tax helped to boost sales, he said.

Buyers continued to switch to electrified cars from gasoline and diesel cars.

Sales of full-electric cars rose by 523 percent to 28,965 and registrations of plug-in hybrid models increased 383 percent to 30,621.

Sales of gasoline cars dropped 32 percent, giving the fuel type a 40.4 percent market share. Diesel sales fell 25 percent to a 24.3 percent share.

Sales to private buyers dominated the market as showrooms remained open during the country's semi-lockdown to control the spread of the coronavirus. Private registrations rose 23 percent, while business sales fell 9 percent.

Germany fared better than other major European markets last month. Demand in France fell 27 percent, while in Spain sales fell 19 percent in Italy registrations were down 8.3 percent.

Through November, German registrations are down 22 percent to 2.6 million.

The VDA industry association expects full-year vehicle sales to fall 20 percent to 2.9 million, largely because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.