SUV boom in Vienna: Where the big cars really came from!

SUV boom in Vienna: Where the big cars really came from!

In Vienna, the trend towards SUVs and off-road vehicles has reached a new dimension. In 2024, an impressive 24,528 SUVs were newly registered in the federal capital, which corresponds to an increase of three times as many vehicles compared to 2010. A total of 56,828 cars were newly registered in Vienna, with an impressive 43 percent of them being SUVs. This development is not only a sign of the zeitgeist, but also has a tangible impact on the city and its infrastructure. According to Die Presse, forecasts from the Statista institute show that the SUV segment in Austria could reach a market volume of 3.7 billion euros by 2025.

The increase in SUV registrations in the Liesing and Leopoldstadt districts is particularly noticeable, with increases of 387 percent and 383 percent compared to 2010. Companies bear the main responsibility for this development. The increase in company vehicles has not only changed the cityscape, but has also further fueled the parking situation.

New car market on the upswing

In the first half of 2025, almost every second new car in Austria was an SUV: the proportion was an impressive 49.8 percent. A total of 71,235 of 143,051 newly registered cars were registered as SUVs, representing an increase of more than 100 percent since 2015. 13,852 new SUVs were registered in Vienna, which corresponds to 50.9 percent of new registrations in the city. The VCö also found that Carinthia has the highest SUV share at 53.5 percent.

Interesting details about the composition of the vehicles show that almost half of the new SUV models are hybrids (47 percent), while 28 percent are electrically powered and 25 percent rely on gasoline or diesel engines. Especially when it comes to plug-in hybrids, the SUV share is as high as 68 percent. One thing is clear here: the trend is clearly towards more environmentally friendly drives, even if the actual fuel consumption of these models is often three and a half times as high as stated by the manufacturers.

A city in transition

The SUV density varies greatly between Vienna's districts. While in the inner city there are 5.18 newly registered SUVs per 100 inhabitants, the situation is significantly different in Ottakring with only 0.36 SUVs. The high density in districts like Liesing suggests that mobility is increasingly geared towards cars. Future discussions about a possible regulatory system for vehicle sizes are therefore more than appropriate.

In this context, new proposals for transport planning are also being discussed, such as higher parking fees for heavy vehicles or incentives for the use of electric vehicles. After all, larger vehicles not only have an impact on the cityscape, but also increase the risk to other road users while providing more protection for their occupants. The effect of the SUV trend on mobility in Vienna remains a hotly debated topic. Finally, technological innovation could also lead to smaller and more efficient vehicles offering similar levels of comfort as their larger relatives.

Overall, it looks as if the SUV wave will continue to roll in Vienna. Traffic and traffic planning in the city are facing major challenges, while at the same time the demand for these vehicles continues to increase.

For further information visit ORF Vienna.