New registrations in April 2012: winners and losers of the month

I n a total of 325,147 new vehicles were registered for the first time in April 2012, which corresponds to an increase of 1.8 compared to the previous year. Cumulative over the first four months, the new car registrations are 1,047,702 1.8 percent above the previous year. The total new registrations come to 1,223,585 vehicles and are up 1.4 percent.

Minis are all the rage

The large vans (+ 13.1 percent) and off-road vehicles (+ 13.6 percent) segments saw significant growth in April. The minis recorded the greatest growth with a plus of 32.2 percent. In contrast, new registrations in the luxury class (- 13.3 percent), sports cars (- 8.9 percent) and mobile homes (- 10.0 percent) fell significantly. In addition, 13,547 convertibles were newly registered in April.

Among the winners compared to the previous year are Lancia, which shine after four months with an increase of 221.2 percent. Land Rover (+ 90.9 percent), Kia (+ 57.9 percent), Chrysler /Jeep /Dodge (+ 32.1 percent) and Porsche (+ 26.1 percent) are also well up. With a positive balance in May, Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Jaguar, Mercedes, Seat, Skoda, Smart and VW also go.

The used car market is up

The used car market is also holding up positively. In April, a total of 685,645 vehicles were transferred to new owners, which corresponds to an increase of 1.2 percent. 588,307 car ownership transfers provide an increase of 3.3 percent compared to the previous year. A total of 2,630,633 vehicles changed hands in the first four months of the year (+ 2.6 percent). In the case of passenger cars, 2,314,441 changes of owner ensure an increase of 3.7 percent.