Car sales in Hungary rose by 17.5 percent last year to 136,601 units, mainly on the back of runaway sales of SUVs. SUV sales amounted to 51,032 units, followed by 38,190 lower middle category sedans. Among SUVs, the Suzuki Vitara (pictured above) was the clear leader, with every fifth vehicle sold.
Behind the Vitara, the next most popular SUV models were the Dacia Duster, Ford Kuga, Nissan Qashqai and the Toyota C-HR.
This also helped Suzuki maintain its lead among car brands, selling a total 19,292 cars. Ford was second with 13,653 cars and Skoda came in third with 11,842 units. However, looked at in another way, total sales of the Volkswagen group – including its Volkswagen, Skoda, Audi and Seat brands – was even higher at 26,341 units.
Although car sales have shown two-digit growth both in 2016 and 2017, the over 136,000 units sold last year are still a far cry behind sales volumes prior to the 2008 global economic and financial crisis, when sales exceeded 200,000 units per year.
In fleet sales the Volkswagen Passat was the leader, followed by the Skoda Superb, Ford Mondeo and Opel Insignia. As a curiosity, 18 Teslas were sold last year in Hungary.
