Curiosity: This is the car market of Liechtenstein, one of the world’s smallest

Liechtenstein is a tiny country of just 160 square kilometers surrounded by Switzerland and Austria . Very German customs, does not belong to the European Union although there is free movement of passengers and therefore there are no problems entering or leaving members of EU citizens. S an Marino, Tuvalu, Monaco, Nauru and Vatican City are the only smaller independent countries.

Given their limited size you can imagine that the car market is not very large in figures. Liechtenstein has surveyed more than 37,000 people, ie, two and half times less than those living in Soria , the province with the smallest population of peninsular Spain. If you want to calculate better, it would be like Valdepeñas when at parties.

Glancing at the data of registrations of new vehicles in 2015, the figures are slightly sad . And not for the type of vehicle they buy citizens but by volume of just 2,049 cars and SUVs . Despite this low result, the figures improved compared to the previous year by 13.7%.

must say that gasoline engines led the market with 1,017 units compared with 934 diesel . Hybrid reached 58 units while electrical remained in the 30 car . The remaining gas were associated with either or LPG. Very important it is that most of the cars had all-wheel drive, specifically 1,154.

RANKING BRANDS 2015

1. Volkswagen 342
2. Audi 237
3. BMW 186
4. Mercedes 150
5. SEAT 121
6. Skoda 103
7. Opel 81
8. Toyota 79
9. Ford 71
10. Renault 65
11. Porsche 63
12. Mazda 58
13. Suzuki 42
14. Nissan 41
15. Hyundai 40
16. Land Rover 36
17. MINI 31
18. Subaru 30
19. Jeep 28
20. Peugeot 28
21. Kia 23
22. Mitsubishi 23
23. Honda 22
24. Volvo 22
25. Dacia 21
26. Citroen 20
27. Fiat 17
28. Alpina 15
29. Lexus 12
30. Tesla 8
31. Jaguar 7
32. Smart 7
33. Corvette 4
34. 3 DS
35. Bentley 2
36. Lamborghini 2
37. Lotus 2
38. Rolls Royce 2
39. Ferrari 1
40. Infiniti 1
41. Maserati 1
42. McLaren 1
43. Ssangyong 1
44. Other 13

Viewing ranking by brand, this country is similar to others in the region in which German firms set the pace . Here the biggest difference is in how little importance the French, leaving Peugeot and Citroen far down the ranking.

TOP 50 MODELS 2015

1. VW Golf 129
2. SEAT Alhambra 87
3. VW Polo 71
4. Skoda Octavia 54
5. Audi A3 53
6. Audi A4 34
7. Audi A1 33
8. Toyota Yaris 32
9. VW Passat 32
10. Audi Q5 31
11. Mercedes Class C 29
12. Audi A6 28
13. BMW Serie3 27
14. BMW 2 Series 26
15. BMW X5 25
16. Ford Kuga 24
17. SEAT Leon 23
18. Skoda Fabia 23
19. BMW Serie1 22
20. MINI Cooper 22
21. Porsche 911 22
22. Audi Q3 21
23. Hyundai i20 21
24. Mercedes Class A 21
25. Renault Clio 21
26. VW Tiguan 21
27. Opel Mokka 20
28. Porsche Macan 20
29. VW Sharan 20
30. Suzuki Swift 19
31. BMW X3 17
32. Toyota RAV4 17
33. BMW X6 16
34. Mazda CX-3 16
35. Mazda CX-5 16
36. Mercedes Class B 16
37. Opel Corsa 16
38. Porsche Cayenne 16
39. Mercedes Class S 15
40. Land Rover Evoque 14
41. Mitsubishi Space Star 14
42. Range Rover 14
43. Ford Focus 13
44. Nissan Qashqai 13
45. Opel Astra 13
46. Fiat 500 12
47. Ford Fiesta 12
48. Mercedes CLA 12
49. Suzuki S-Cross 12
50. Volvo XC60 12

it does not take much effort to see that Liechtenstein is a country very VAG , perhaps the largest in the world judging by the market share achieved. In the Top10 and except the Toyota Yaris, there are nine products of the German giant including include the Golf, leader, and of course the SEAT Alhambra that achieves an excellent second place.

The greatest merit in this market is for SEAT . In 2012 it was just located in ranked 23rd with just 27 units sold. In 2013 he improved to tenth place with 56 units and in 2014 was placed in sixth place with 91 vehicles delivered. Last year grew again to fifth place and 121 units reflected. These results as good should be the Alhambra which is the second best selling model for the third consecutive year.

An interesting point that has evolved correctly this market is in the level of emissions. E n 2012 the registered average of all cars and SUVs was 158 g / km CO2 while last year fell to 142 g / km of CO2 . Still well above European countries but the improvement has been remarkable and we must bear in mind that climate vehicles require 4 × 4 that increase spending.

Despite how small this country it is not difficult to find any electric vehicle. Over the last 10 years they have sold 321 units are rolling mainly in the center of the cities . Infrastructure, without being the best, is far better than in Spain, Italy or Austria itself

Finally cite some curiosities.

• Alpina XD3 8
• Audi S3 10
• Audi RS3 7
• Audi SQ5 6
• Bentley Continental 1
• Bentley Mulsanne 1
• BMW i3 4
• BMW i8 1
• BMW M5 3
• BMW M4 3
• Corvette 4
• Ferrari California 1
• Ford Mustang 1
• Jaguar F-Type 3
• Jaguar XE 3
• Jeep Renegade 10
• Lamborghini Huracan 2
• Lexus RC-F 1
• Lotus Exige 1
• McLaren 650S 1
• Mercedes AMG GT 3
• Mercedes GLE 7
• Nissan e-NV200 1
• Opel Adam 9
• Porsche 918 1
• Renault Espace 4
• Renault Kadjar 6
• Rolls-Royce Wraith 2
• SEAT Ibiza 11
• Subaru WRX 1
• Subaru Levorg 3
• Tesla Model S 8
• Toyota Sienna 2
• VW Beetle 6