False Start into the New Year - Pressure for Traffic and Climate Policy Correction Continues to Rise
04.02.2026 | from auto-schweiz
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04.02.2026, The Car Year 2026 Begins with a False Start: Just Over 14,000 New Passenger Cars Registered in January in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein. This is 5.1 Percent Below the Already Low Market Level from the Previous Year, Continuing the Aging of the Swiss Car Fleet and Making Climate Goals Unattainable. An Urgent Correction of Traffic and Climate Policies is Necessary.
The Swiss market for new passenger cars has begun the year 2026 very weakly. The 14,027 new registrations represent a decrease of 5.1 percent compared to January 2025 and mark the worst registration month of this century. The discrepancy with the strong previous month of December is striking. Compared to December 2025, new registrations in January 2026 decreased by 47.6% or nearly half. Declining January numbers for passenger cars are indeed a typical counter-movement to the year- end business, but the over-regulation of CO2 significantly amplifies this market distortion. This can be clearly seen in BEV new registrations: In January 2026, 2,913 vehicles, two-thirds or 66 percent fewer BEVs, were registered compared to December 2025 (8,584).
The Swiss car import industry and dealers and garages did everything in December to avoid or minimize CO2 penalties. As a result, unnatural effects occurred in the year-end business. The figures for January are only partially indicative of the further course of the year, but the five percent decrease compared to the previous year clearly shows that there is an urgent need for adjustments to the CO2 regulations. Peter Grünenfelder, president of auto-schweiz, says: "The Federal Council and Parliament are more than ever required in view of these numbers to quickly adjust the CO2 framework conditions and finally align climate and traffic policies with market realities, in order to avoid further damages at the expense of the automobile industry, SMEs, and private households. Otherwise, the aging of the Swiss vehicle stock continues unabated, and climate policy goals become an unaffordable and economically highly damaging utopia."
Detailed figures by brand are available at www.auto.swiss. The evaluations by auto-schweiz are based on federal surveys, and the data may be preliminary and not final.
Press contact: Frank
Keidel, Media Spokesperson
T 076 399 69 06
frank.keidel@auto.swiss
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auto-schweiz
auto-schweiz is the association of official automobile importers. Our members distribute passenger cars and commercial vehicles (light up to 3.5 tons and heavy from 3.5 tons total weight), buses, and coaches worth over 10 billion francs per year through around 4,000 brand dealers in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein.
auto-schweiz provides services for members and the public, including in the areas of traffic and environmental policy, statistics, and motor vehicle technology.
Politically, auto-schweiz advocates for the motor vehicle industry, motorized individual traffic, as well as for car drivers and owners.
Note: The "About Us" text is taken from public sources or from the company profile on HELP.ch.
Source: auto-schweiz, Press release
Original article published on: Fehlstart ins neue Jahr - Druck auf verkehrs- und klimapolitische Kurskorrektur steigt weiter