German true fleet registrations and overall new car registrations declined in February, latest Dataforce figures show.

The true fleet market dropped -6.7% last month compared to February 2016.

The true fleet market dropped -6.7% last month compared to February 2016, reaching a total of 57,768 units – even taking into account that February 2017 had one working day less than last year the result was still negative. The total market was also down, with a fall of -2.6% to 243,602 units.

Market leader Volkswagen lost almost two percent of its market share for true fleet but the new Tiguan was +30.6% and recorded its highest-ever level of fleet registrations for the month with a share of 12.4% (year-to-date February) followed by Audi Q5 (7.6%) and Mercedes GLC (6.4%). The growth comes prior to the H2 launch of the seven-seater Tiguan Allspace which debuted at the Geneva Motor Show.
Mercedes jumped from rank number four overall into second position but was only separated by third-placed Audi by 18 registrations. Behind BMW, Ford, Skoda and Opel, the top 10 was completed by Renault (+39.1%), SEAT (+22.5%) and Toyota (+23.3%). With 2.3%, the latter scored its highest market share since September 2009, helped in particular by the new C-HR crossover. SEAT saw similar siutaiton with the new SUV Ateca already ranking second in the Spanish manufacturer’s true fleet line-up.

Dataforce also looked at the most preferred models for private and fleet customers and found that most company car drivers prefer a higher vehicle segment as you can see at VW (Golf instead of Polo), Mercedes (C-Class/A-Class) or BMW (3 Series/1 Series). Within the Audi and SEAT line-ups, most private customers opt for an SUV (Q2, Ateca) instead of a more traditional compact or middle class car. However, at Renault the Captur is the lead model for both groups.

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