The Swiss car trade in numbers | Updated: 10.09.2026

The Swiss automotive sector turns over more than CHF 94 billion a year, about 13 percent of GDP. 233,774 passenger cars were newly registered in 2025, 2 percent fewer than in 2024, and 69.3 percent of them were electrified. In the fleet of 4,839,465 passenger cars, however, pure electric sits at just 5.2 percent. That gap, not the new car statistics, will decide the used car business of the coming years.

The Swiss automotive sector turns over more than CHF 94 billion a year, roughly 13 percent of gross domestic product. There is no domestic mass production, so the market runs on imports: vehicles are the country’s third-largest import group at about CHF 11 billion a year.

The latest official data shows a market moving at two speeds. New car sales are electrifying fast. The fleet on the road and the used market tell a much slower story.

The headline figures

Metric	2025 figure	Context
New passenger car registrations	233,774	−2.0 percent against 2024
Share with an electrified powertrain	69.3 percent	BEV, PHEV and hybrids combined
Share fully electric (BEV)	22.8 percent	53,250 new vehicles
Passenger car fleet	4,839,465	535 cars per 1,000 residents
Average age of the fleet	10.8 years	8.3 years in 2019
Changes of ownership per year	over 700,000	market volume USD 25.7 billion

Sources for this table: autoweg.ch, the Federal Statistical Office, motoro.ch.

New registrations: the 69 percent shift

233,774 passenger cars were newly registered in 2025, about 19,500 a month. Volume shrank 2 percent against 2024 and remains roughly 20 percent below the pre-pandemic level, when more than 300,000 vehicles were registered every year. It is the sixth consecutive year below that mark. (autoweg.ch, TCS electric mobility market report 2025)

The mix, however, has changed sharply. 69.3 percent of all new cars in 2025 had an electrified powertrain. Battery electric vehicles reached 22.8 percent with 53,250 units, plug-in hybrids 11.2 percent with 26,189 units. Together, plug-in vehicles reach 34.0 percent. That puts them ahead of non-electrified combustion engines, which together reach 30.7 percent: 23.9 percent petrol and 6.8 percent diesel. The single largest category, though, is still hybrids without a plug at 35.3 percent. (auto-schweiz)

Pure fossil powertrains are contracting hard. New diesel registrations fell about 30 percent to a historic low of 6.8 percent market share, down from over 35 percent in 2015. Pure petrol models gave up 20 percent and sit at 23.9 percent.

The best-selling brands

Rank	Brand	Registrations	Market share	Best seller
1	Volkswagen	25,618	11.0 percent	Tiguan (5,181)
2	Škoda	22,297	9.5 percent	Kodiaq (3,895)
3	BMW	20,480	8.8 percent	X1 (3,428)
4	Mercedes-Benz	about 15,000	about 6.4 percent	GLC (4,299)
5	Audi	about 14,000	about 6.0 percent	Q3 (3,416)
6	Toyota	about 10,500	about 4.5 percent	Yaris (3,313)
7	Tesla	about 8,000	about 3.4 percent	Model Y (5,080)

The Volkswagen Group leads the market. The German premium makers BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi together account for 49,480 vehicles, or 21.2 percent of the new car market, a good fifth. Tesla is the only pure electric brand in the top ten, carried almost entirely by the Model Y. (motorized.ch, 2025 annual ranking)

The closest duel of the year

SUVs and crossovers make up 45 to 48 percent of all new car sales. Ten of the fifteen best-selling models belong to that segment. At the top, the combustion-powered Volkswagen Tiguan took first place with 5,181 units, narrowly ahead of the fully electric Tesla Model Y with 5,080. Behind them come the Mercedes-Benz GLC (4,299), the Volkswagen Golf (3,985) and the Škoda Kodiaq (3,895).

The fleet gap: 10.8 years of inertia

The total vehicle fleet grew to about 6.58 million road vehicles, up 0.9 percent. Passenger cars account for just under three quarters of that at 4,839,465 units, which is 535 passenger cars per 1,000 residents. (the Federal Statistical Office)

On the road, the powertrain mix looks nothing like the showroom. Pure electric cars are 5.2 percent of the active fleet, or 249,832 vehicles. Petrol at 58.7 percent and diesel at 24.0 percent still account for more than 82 percent of registered passenger cars.

The reason for the gap is how long cars stay in service. The average age of a passenger car rose to 10.8 years, from 8.3 years in 2019 and 8.7 years in 2010. Economic uncertainty and high replacement costs mean Swiss owners keep their existing combustion cars longer, which slows the real replacement rate of the fleet. (FSO, stock and motorisation rate)

That fleet is served by about 5,200 active garages and service businesses employing 39,000 to 41,000 specialists, generating an aftermarket volume of CHF 12 billion. (ValIndex, car services and workshops in Switzerland)

Used cars: the point where the prices meet

The Swiss used car market is liquid. More than 700,000 changes of ownership are registered per year, a steady 176,000 to 177,000 per quarter and over 83,000 in peak months. Market volume is estimated at USD 25.69 billion, projected to reach USD 30.82 billion by 2031. (AUTO&Wirtschaft, Auto-i-DAT)

After five years of rising prices the market is correcting. The average asking price for a used vehicle fell 3.4 percent to CHF 36,884, the first sustained drop in years. The average insured value of a registered vehicle across Switzerland is CHF 48,000.

Powertrain	Average used price	Change	Driver
Plug-in hybrid	CHF 56,156	+1.25 percent	demand for range and flexibility
Mild hybrid	CHF 50,245	−5.00 percent	the technology is becoming standard
Battery electric	CHF 43,549 (Q1 2026: CHF 40,599)	−8.30 percent	discounts on new EVs push residuals down
Petrol	CHF 37,571	−0.20 percent	stable values for compacts and SUVs
Full hybrid	CHF 35,479	−1.20 percent	strong demand for Asian imports
Diesel	CHF 23,673	−6.00 percent	concern over urban driving restrictions

The most important movement is not in that last column. Used electric cars lost the most, down 8.3 percent to CHF 43,549 in 2025 and CHF 40,599 by early 2026. That shrinks the premium over a comparable petrol car (CHF 37,571) to CHF 5,978, or 16 percent. Two years earlier the gap was above 30 percent. (motoro.ch)

Cantons: from supercars to thrift

Regional differences are large and follow wealth, tax regime and population density.

Canton	Average vehicle value	Deviation	EV share of new registrations	Focus
Zug	CHF 65,500	+35 percent	31.2 percent	supercars
Schwyz	CHF 58,000	+20 percent	about 26.0 percent	premium SUVs and all-wheel drive
Geneva	CHF 51,000	+6 percent	28.7 percent	executive saloons
Zurich	about CHF 50,000	+4 percent	24.5 percent	volume market, Ferrari density
Valais	CHF 48,000	baseline	about 21.0 percent	all-wheel drive utility vehicles
Vaud	CHF 46,500	−3 percent	26.2 percent	premium compacts, mid-size SUVs
Jura	CHF 41,500	−14 percent	about 18.0 percent	entry-level combustion and used compacts

Between Zug (CHF 65,500) and Jura (CHF 41,500) lie CHF 24,000, almost 60 percent within the same national market. Low-tax cantons also show markedly higher electric shares: Zug at 31.2 percent, Basel-City at 29.5 percent, Geneva at 28.7 percent. Available private charging and purchasing power explain most of that.

Switzerland also remains an exceptional market for exotics. In 2025, 548 Ferraris were newly registered, led by the 296 GTB plug-in hybrid, along with 317 Lamborghinis with the Urus above 60 percent of brand sales, 226 Maseratis, 156 Aston Martins, 142 Bentleys and 87 Rolls-Royces. Most of them are in Zurich and Zug. And the fleet holds veteran vehicles of 30 years and older worth CHF 7.7 billion. (SWI swissinfo.ch)

What these figures mean for the trade

The market moves on two levels at different speeds. New registrations show fast technological progress. The real fleet changes far more slowly, because holding periods have stretched to 10.8 years.

It follows that decarbonising the Swiss fleet does not hinge on new car sales but on the used market. Once used electric cars reach price parity with petrol, the buyer base shifts from early adopters to pragmatic volume buyers. The CHF 5,978 gap shows how close that point is.

For garages this means aiming diagnostic equipment and training at a used fleet that is ageing and electrifying at the same time. For dealer groups and platforms it means differentiating inventory and outreach by region: Zug and Zurich carry margin, premium share and exotic volume, while rural and lower-income cantons run on durable combustion cars and value retention.

Sources

This page is kept up to date. Every figure comes from the publicly available sources below.

FAQ

How often are these figures updated?

Monthly. This is a continuously maintained data page, not a one-off annual review. Figures with a different reference date are marked as such in the text.

May I cite these figures?

Yes. Please link to this page and also name the original source, which we give under every number. For the raw data the Federal Statistical Office, or the named association, is always authoritative.

Why do these values differ from other publications?

Because reference date and definition differ. Fleet figures refer to registered vehicles at year end, new registrations to the full calendar year, and used prices to asking prices rather than closing prices. That is why we name the source for every number.

Do these figures apply to Austria as well?

No. Everything on this page concerns Switzerland only. The Austrian market has its own fleet and registration statistics.

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