Switzerland’s auto market experiences slowdown in 2024. In September 2024, sales dipped by 6.4% in year-on-year volume and reached 19,615 (-6.4%). YTD figures decreased by 3.9% compared to the prior year, reaching 169,708.
Market Trend and Outlook
Switzerland’s economy is expected to grow modestly, with GDP increasing by 1.1% in 2024 and 1.4% in 2025. Growth will be constrained by weak global trade, tight monetary conditions, and subdued private investment. Inflation is projected to rise temporarily towards the end of 2024 due to higher rent and electricity prices but will remain within the Swiss National Bank’s stability range.
The labor market is expected to remain stable, though unemployment may rise slightly. Policy efforts should focus on maintaining tight monetary conditions to control inflation, addressing population aging, and advancing the green transition to enhance energy security and environmental sustainability.
The Swiss auto market was negatively impacted by the economic outlook. Sales in September 2024 fell 6.4% in year-on-year volume, reaching 19,615. YTD figures at 169,708 were down 3.9% compared to the prior year.
Looking at cumulative data up to September 2024 brand-wise, the new leader was BMW -up 2 spots- with 16,343 sales (+8.5%), followed by Skoda at 15,530 (+2%) and Volkswagen -down 2 spots- at 15,188 (-14.5%)
In 4th position ranked Mercedes -up 1 spot- at 12,669 sales (-3.1%), followed by Audi -down 1 spot- at 12,571 sales (-14.7%), followed by Toyota with 9,198 registrations (-5%) and Tesla -up 1 spot- with 7,242 units sold (+10.2%).
Volvo -up 4 spots- ranked in 8th with 6,872 auto registrations (+21.8%), followed by Hyundai with 6,389 units sold (+2.1%). Closing the top 10 Dacia -up 1 spot- reported 5,754 (+1.4%).
Looking at specific models, reported in the dedicated article, the Tesla Model Y was still the best-selling model with a 12.4% year-on-year growth, followed by the Skoda Octavia with a 20.9% growth.
Medium-Term Market Trend
The Swiss auto market in the past decade has had many ups and downs. From 2010 to 2019 sales remained above the 300k mark, reaching a maximum in 2015 at 345,219 sales and a minimum in 2018 at 304,871 registrations.
In 2020 with the arrival of the pandemic sales dropped for the first time bellow 300k reaching 236,825 (-23.9%).
In 2021 the Swiss auto market slightly recovered reporting a 0.7% growth in sales. While in 2022 sales reached 225,833, the lowest level of the last decade (-5.3%). A combination of factors are behind the current industry struggle: the disruption in the global supply chain caused by a lack of raw materials, in particular for the production of microchips and Governments push towards Evs.
Despite, the Swiss auto market in 2023 closed with a total of 251,959 sales and increasing 11.6% compared to the previous year.
Tables with sales figures
In the tables below we report sales for all Brands, top 10 Manufacturers Groups and top 10 Models.
