FLENSBURG (dpa-AFX) - After years of declining sales figures, the compact class is experiencing a second spring in the German car market. In keeping with the 50th anniversary of its most prominent representative, the VW Golf, its market share in the current year is 19.6 percent, a whopping 3.3 points higher than in 2023 as a whole and even 3.7 points above the low point in 2022, according to figures from the Federal Motor Transport Authority analyzed by dpa.

The Vice President of the German Association of the Motor Trade (ZDK), Thomas Peckruhn, attributes the increase primarily to a renewed improvement in supply. "The demand for compact cars is high. We simply had too few of them recently. But that has now changed again," he says. Industry expert Frank Schwope also sees a connection to the improved availability. In addition, many people are currently keeping their money together and prefer to buy a cheaper compact instead of an expensive SUV. As a result, "many people now prefer to drive a Golf rather than a Tiguan".

However, Schwope does not see this as a general trend reversal back to compact cars. "This is yet another interim rebellion, the last rebellion of the compact class." This will not change the general trend towards SUVs.

The Golf could also have contributed to the current upswing in the compact class, at least to some extent. In the first five months of 2024, the model sold significantly better than last year./ruc/DP/stk