Germany’s true fleet channel was hit by a 12.0% decline in May on the back of a decrease in the number of working days and a record month last year.

The Tiguan jumped from rank number 11 into fifth position in the true fleet channel

Analysis by Christian Spahn at Dataforce found that the two fewer working days seen last month was the main reason for the downturn but also factors in that the same month last year scored some 78,000 fleet registrations, making it the strongest May ever.

A downturn was also seen in the special channel but the 1.4% increase seen in the private market helped mitigate this and the overall market was down 5.8%.

Among the top 10 fleet brands, Škoda and Renault were the only two who increased their registrations over last year’s May. Volkswagen and Audi stayed in the lead followed by BMW and Mercedes who swapped their positioning as did Škoda (up to fifth) and Ford (down to sixth). Opel (ranked seventh) was just two registrations behind its figure for last year. Renault (+8.0%), Seat and Toyota completed the top 10.

The Golf was the most popular company car – overturning the Passat’s top position a year ago – while the Volkswagen Tiguan jumped from rank number eleven into fifth position and the 5 Series was up seven positions to sixth.  However, the award for the biggest leap for the month went to the Volkswagen Transporter, which climbed from rank number twenty to eighth.