What They Really Drive On The Autobahn: Germany's Top 50

According to lore, Germany’s autobahn is teeming with S-Class, Porsches, and the occasional Veyron mixed in. Not so, says Germany’s Über-DMV, the Kraftfahrtbundesamt, in an article about the 50 top selling cars in Germany of 2010. “Upper class and sports cars are not in the Top 50,” say Germany’s keepers of car data. The truth is in the following table.

Germany’s Top 50RankMake & modelSegmentUnits 2010ShareDiesel1VW GOLF, JETTACompact Class251,0788.6%35.4%2VW POLOSmall Cars96,9453.3%18.1%3OPEL ASTRACompact Class72,6852.5%27.7%4MERCEDES C-KLASSEMiddle Class71,8712.5%55.1%5BMW 3ERMiddle Class67,6432.3%68.8%6VW PASSATMiddle Class66,4962.3%82.6%7OPEL CORSASmall Cars65,3042.2%5.0%8AUDI A3, S3Compact Class63,4662.2%45.1%9AUDI A4, S4Middle Class59,8632.1%76.8%10BMW 1ERCompact Class55,3531.9%53.9%11MERCEDES E-KLASSEUpper Middle Class54,1111.9%73.9%12FORD FOCUSCompact Class53,7201.8%36.2%13FORD FIESTASmall Cars51,5981.8%10.5%14MERCEDES A-KLASSECompact Class51,5791.8%27.6%15SKODA FABIASmall Cars48,6091.7%11.3%16BMW 5ERUpper Middle Class46,0141.6%81.9%17VW TOURANVan45,6841.6%63.2%18SKODA OCTAVIACompact Class42,9461.5%54.8%19VW TIGUANSUV38,6871.3%66.6%20MERCEDES B-KLASSEMinivan37,5261.3%39.9%21VW TRANSPORTER, CARAVELLEUtility36,6911.3%99.4%22OPEL MERIVAMinivan31,7411.1%12.5%23BMW MiniSmall Cars31,4771.1%14.1%24HYUNDAI I 30Compact Class30,4981.0%22.8%25AUDI A6, S6Upper Middle Class30,0791.0%88.3%26VW CADDYUtility30,0051.0%68.0%27SMART FORTWOMini29,0651.0%14.9%28OPEL INSIGNIAMiddle Class28,2081.0%76.6%29RENAULT MEGANECompact Class27,4650.9%40.6%30BMW X1SUV26,6340.9%82.9%31NISSAN QASHQAIMinivan24,1480.8%33.8%32PEUGEOT 207Small Cars23,9940.8%18.8%33FIAT PANDAMini23,6380.8%5.5%34SEAT IBIZA, CORDOBASmall Cars23,5700.8%11.8%35AUDI A5, S5Middle Class23,4150.8%54.6%36RENAULT CLIOSmall Cars23,3330.8%5.3%37AUDI Q5SUV23,1480.8%85.9%38RENAULT SCENICMinivan22,6770.8%53.9%39TOYOTA YARISSmall Cars20,8110.7%5.0%40OPEL ZAFIRAVan20,7500.7%37.7%41FORD MONDEOMiddle Class20,3040.7%76.3%42RENAULT TWINGOMini19,6480.7%1.9%43SEAT ALTEA, TOLEDO, LEONMinivan18,6680.6%24.8%44FIAT 500Mini17,7070.6%5.0%45NISSAN MICRASmall Cars17,6890.6%1.5%46DACIA SANDEROCompact Class16,8350.6%7.7%47HYUNDAI I 10Mini16,7030.6%0.1%48CITROEN C3Small Cars16,6190.6%19.0%49SKODA SUPERBMiddle Class15,4500.5%73.3%50PEUGEOT 308Compact Class15,3760.5%51.7%Total Top 502,047,52470.2%42.3%All registrations 20102,916,260100.0%41.9%

25 cars made up half of Germany’s sales last year. The Top 50 account for 66 percent. 42 percent burn oil. Electric cars? Hybrids? Do you see any?