With 71’751 new registrations in the first quarter of 2013, the swiss passenger car market has shrunk by 9.3% in comparison with 2012.

New car sales have dropped year-on-year respectively by 10.1% in January, 4.6% in February and 12.1% in March. Among the top 15 brands, the majority register sharp declines, with a few notable exceptions:

Audi, BMW, Toyota and Mazda were the only top 15 brands to increase their volumes in Q1 2013. The biggest progressions in absolute sales volumes were scored by Suzuki (+928 vehicles, or +82.1%), Mazda (+649), Honda (+389) and Toyota (+202). The sharpest absolute declines were recorded by Volkswagen (-3237) and Renault (-1132). Jaguar achieved the strongest relative progression, getting close to double its sales volume (+95.3%).

Over this first trimester, the share of diesel holds steady at 37.9% of units, in continuity with the records seen in 2012. The share of 4×4 increases at 36.2% of cars sold, versus 31.1% in Q1 2012. Alternative car sales increased by 43.7%, but account only for 3.2% of the market.

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