Not a good car year again!

After 238,481 new registrations two years ago (and over 300,000 each before the Corona pandemic), 225,934 new cars sold in 2022 means an even worse outcome. “The further decline is mainly due to the lack of components, which greatly affects the production and delivery of new vehicles throughout the entire 2022 automobile year,” explains Christoph Wolnik of the Auto Schweiz importers association, explaining the unsatisfactory result. According to Wolnik, the situation improved somewhat in the second half of the year, but is still far from normal. After all, December was 0.9 percent higher than December 2021 with 24,523 new redemptions. This momentum is expected to continue in the new year.

Despite the sobering numbers, the mood in the industry is not as pessimistic as one might expect. Because according to a short survey, backlogs are good for most importers and their order books are full. In the coming months, it is now important to satisfy customers and gradually deliver the many new vehicles ordered.

A new record of 50.8% in the market share of alternatively driven vehicles last year also pleases the industry. Despite the looming energy crisis, one in every two new cars registered in the last twelve months has been electric – either full, light and plug-in hybrid, or all-electric. “Switzerland’s new car fleet is thus becoming more and more climate-friendly,” says Christoph Wolnik.

If we take a closer look at the registration statistics, we see that despite the modest overall sales figures, there are definitely winners, some of whom have been able to make significant gains. In Switzerland, Tesla almost subscribed to the success. The young electronics brand from the USA managed to increase its sales by an impressive 34.4 percent, especially thanks to the best-selling Model Y in our country. It currently has a market share of 3.9 percent and ranks 9th in the ranking. The Swiss brand made a parade. Korean Hyundai sister Kia also managed to achieve a significant increase, with an increase of 25.6 percent compared to the previous year and a 23.3 percent increase in Renault subsidiary Dacia.

In 2022, her daughter Dacia ran like clockwork in Switzerland with her cheap new cars, but mother Renault had a hard time. The French registered only 208 new cars from Dacia last year, which means a decrease of 14.2 percent compared to 2021. “Apart from Megane Electric and Austral, we have fewer new products in 2022 than in other years,” admits Renault spokesman Marc Utzinger. But he is confident for the new year: “In 2023 we will boast a real fireworks display of new products.” Volvo was hit even harder, down 27.7 percent. With 5,731 new registered vehicles last year, the brand almost fell out of the top 15. As with Renault, the same is true for Volvo: hardly anything new came to the market from the Swedes last year.

In the prestigious race for market share of German premium brands in Switzerland, Audi managed to catch up significantly with an increase of 6.0 percent compared to Mercedes (-10.6 percent) and BMW (-6.0 percent). It is surprising, however, that the three high-priced brands could find themselves in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions at the new car brand parade in Switzerland in 2022. It seems that Mr. and Mrs. Schweizer do not want to give up automotive luxury even in crisis years with rising living costs and energy prices.