upper middle class

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Vehicle with the most registrations in its class, 2019: Audi A6 C8

Upper middle class is the name of the Federal Motor Vehicle Office for the second highest car - segment in Germany. The upper middle class is above the middle class and below the upper class. In the vehicle segments of the European Commission , this segment is called the luxury class or E-segment . The term upper middle classwas coined in the 1950s to name vehicles that were of higher quality than mid-range vehicles, but did not match the features, price and dimensions of luxury vehicles. New vehicles in this class are mainly registered for companies and relatively rarely for private individuals. The Mercedes-Benz E-Class is an exception; 30 to 40 percent of these vehicles are bought by private individuals.

Models currently offered in the EU

Market situation

The market in the upper middle class has changed significantly since the late 1990s. While practically every brand was previously represented in this class with a model, which was mostly the top model of the brand, these models are now practically only available under brands that are considered to be premium brands. Only the Škoda Superb is partially classified in the upper middle class.

Ford ( Scorpio , 1985–1998), Honda ( Legend , 1985–2010), Mazda ( Xedos 9 , 1993–2002), Alfa Romeo ( 166 , 1998–2007), Peugeot ( 607 , 2000–2010), Kia ( Opirus , 2003–2010), Citroën ( C6 , 2005–2012) and Renault ( Latitude , 2011–2012) have completely withdrawn from this segment in Europe. Opel ( Omega , 1986–2003) and Nissan ( Maxima , 1988–2004) have de facto made room for the introduction of the Group's own premium brands Cadillac and Infiniti respectively on the European market. The main reason for discontinuing these models was mostly the lack of demand and the resulting low sales figures.

For figures on the annual new registrations of passenger cars in the upper middle class segment in Germany according to statistics from the Federal Motor Transport Authority , see the list of new passenger car registrations in Germany by segment and model series # Upper middle class . Only the models from Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz achieved five-digit numbers in Germany in 2011. The Volvo and Jaguar models reached four-digit numbers; the models from other manufacturers achieved registration numbers of fewer than 250 copies. This resulted in a total market share of the segment of around 5.5%. The Federal Motor Transport Authority did not assign the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupé at the time to the upper middle class. After deducting this model series, the total market share in 2011 was 5.2%.

In Sweden, the Volvo V70 was the top-selling car from its first full sales year 1997 to 2013. In the rest of Europe (defined as EU-28 without Bulgaria and Malta, but plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey) the market share in 2011 was around 3%.

New registrations in Germany

For figures on the annual new registrations of passenger cars in the upper middle class segment in Germany according to statistics from the Federal Motor Transport Authority , see the list of new passenger car registrations in Germany by segment and model series # Upper middle class .

Individual evidence

  1. Car prices within the European Union at 1 January 2011. (PDF) European Commission , 26 July 2011, accessed on 8 February 2015 .
  2. Commercial registrations determine the new car market. (PDF) Federal Motor Transport Authority , accessed on June 21, 2014 .
  3. a b New registrations of passenger cars by segment and model series in December 2011. (PDF; 2.1 MB) Federal Motor Transport Authority , archived from the original on May 31, 2014 ; accessed on June 21, 2014 .
  4. Matt Gasnier: Sweden Full Year 2013: Volvo V40 lands in 5th place - lukewarm. bestsellingcarsblog.com, January 3, 2014, archived from the original on January 5, 2014 ; accessed on July 4, 2014 .
  5. Matt Gasnier: Europe Full Year 2011: Top 318 All models ranking now available! bestsellingcarsblog.com, March 3, 2012, archived from the original on November 17, 2013 ; accessed on July 4, 2014 .