Tactical registrations compensate Swiss True Fleet losses

April saw significant growth in the Swiss car market (+6.1% vs. April last year), new figures released by Dataforce show. But this was not thanks to the private market, which fell by 1.9%, but rather due to commercial registrations. “These grew notably, by 18.2%,” days Dataforce analyst Christian Spahn. 

Again, a closer look reveals an interesting dichotomy. Because actually, True Fleet registrations fell in April: the almost 5,300 registered company cars represented a drop of 12.2% versus previous April. In all, the True Fleet segment has tallied up 11 consecutive months of negative growth. 

Short-Term Rental
The growth in commercial registrations was driven mainly by the Short-Term Rental channel (+146.1%). “With more than 6,900 units since January 2019, the number of cumulated new car registrations stood slightly above prior year’s April result (+ 0.8%),” says Mr Spahn. 

Considering the weak start to the current year, the excellent result for April certainly looks like a catch-up effect for the segment. Moreover, the growth of tactical registrations by Dealerships and Manufacturers continued in April’s (+36.7%).

LCV market
Looking at Switzerland’s LCV market, the upswing continued in April, with the True Fleet market up 5.6%, Rental registrations up 68% and Dealer and Manufacturer registrations up 42.5%. The Private LCV market, finally, also notched up significantly, by 34%.

As for True Fleet models, the VW Transporter (+7.7%) remains the most popular LCV in Switzerland this April, followed by the Ford Transit Custom (+73.4%) and the Iveco Daily (-1.7%).