High demand and good RV forecasts for city cars in Austria
30 November 2021
Rainer Hintermayer, market analyst at Eurotax Austria (part of Autovista Group), analyses how the city-car segment is holding up in the country.
B-segment vehicles, so-called city cars, are very popular with Austrians, as they are compact and inexpensive to buy and operate. Many of these vehicles are usually second cars in households and are ideally suited for short daily trips. They are also popular in many company fleets due to their affordable TCO values.
Yet, they have been losing some of their appeal to the SUV variants for some years, which score points with a higher seating position and better all-round visibility. Nonetheless, the Volkswagen (VW) Polo, Hyundai i20, Ford Fiesta and similar models can still compete well with the B-SUV derivatives, which are usually higher priced. Since each model generation is usually a few centimetres longer and wider, many C-segment drivers also opt for B-segment vehicles when replacing their cars.
In the year-to-date, B-segment models have achieved a market share of 14.2%. With a total of 204,636 newly registered passenger cars in Austria in the reporting period, this equates to around 29,000 vehicles.
The new registration rankings so far this year is led by VW Group’s Skoda Fabia, VW Polo and SEAT Ibiza models. As in the entire B-segment, petrol engines dominate the popular trio. That said, the Renault Zoe, a battery-electric vehicle (BEV), can be found in seventh place. The share of BEVs, with the electric versions of the Opel Corsa, Peugeot 208 and Mini as strong examples, is also increasing from month-to-month. Models with a significant share powered by a full hybrid drive are the Toyota Yaris and the Renault Clio. In October 2021, 15.7% of registrations in the segment were already BEVs, with a further 7.2% made up by hybrid models. The diesel engine plays hardly any role in this segment.
Top 15 B-segment vehicles in Austria
According to the Eurotax Forecast for November 2021, the Audi A1 currently retains the highest RV at 47.2% after 36 months and 60,000km total mileage, followed by the new Skoda Fabia (46.7%) and the Suzuki Swift (46%). The Toyota Yaris achieves only 34.6% in the petrol variant; the very popular Yaris hybrid variants are more stable in value. In general, city cars achieve high RV due to their relatively low price and good demand.
RVs of top 15 B-segment cars in Austria (November 2021) after 36 months/60,000km
