New SUV registrations May 2020: The nosedive continues

D he smallest Japanese automaker in Germany, Subaru, is the big exception. The brand was the only one in the deep red market to achieve an increase in registrations compared to the same month last year in May 2020, even by a remarkable 13 percent. But that does not change the bitter overall picture: New registrations fell by 49.5 percent in May 2020 compared to May 2019. After all, not as drastic as in April, but no less catastrophic.

There were 168,148 new car registrations in May, 53,649 of which were SUVs and SUVs. The sales development is by no means equally dramatic for the individual models. There are vehicles that have lost more than 70 percent in some cases, but there are also 'crisis winners' who have even achieved a positive development.

There are also winners in the crisis

It must be taken into account at the same time that individual manufacturers have recently strongly pushed the so-called tactical approvals. The numbers rose significantly, especially in the rental car business and in self-registrations. However, there is no discernible trend for or against certain brands. With the luxury SUVs GLE and GLS, Mercedes was able to celebrate an increase of 112 and 162 percent respectively, and the BMW X6 almost doubled the number of new registrations. In return, the luxury SUVs BMW X1 and Mercedes GLA came into the red approval zone in May much more than the rest of the SUV models.

The Audi E-Tron is not necessarily the largest volume model from the Ingolstadt-based company. But the electric SUV achieved considerable growth for this segment in May, with new registrations rising by 81 percent. This means that the expensive electric off-roader leaves the pioneer in this segment, the Tesla Model X (minus 29 percent) far behind, even in terms of quantities: 583 new E-Tron registrations in May are compared to just 34 X-Teslas.

Welcome back, Landy

In the midst of all the drama, however, there is also a nice story to report: Four years after the end of production of the original Defender, a car with the legendary name is back in the statistics: The first Land Rover Defenders of the new generation found their way onto German roads. Only 90 pieces, but a start has been made. The hundred is almost full: With the new Defender, we are now listing a total of 99 different off-road vehicles and SUVs in the registration statistics. So the selection is more than good, the only thing missing now is the buyers.

Note: The registration statistics are the official information from the Federal Motor Transport Authority in Flensburg. The division into the respective classes is carried out by the manufacturer using a key number. The statistics can also show models that are not available on the German market or that are no longer being built. This peculiarity can occur with the KBA statistics if e.g. foreign vehicles are registered for the first time in Germany or vehicles have a new ID number. received .