In August, new passenger car registrations in Germany increased by 37 percent year-over-year to 273,417. During the first eight months of 2023, 1,913,564 new cars were registered (up 16.5 percent year-over-year).
Last month was very strong in terms of plug-in electric car sales, which increased to the highest level so far this year.
In August, the total new plug-in electric car registrations amounted to 101,201 (up 78 percent year-over-year), which is 37.0 percent of the total volume (compared to 28.5 percent a year ago).
This outstanding result is related solely to the surge in battery electric cars (BEV) sales, which increased by almost 171 percent year-over-year to 86,649. That’s about 31.7 percent of the total market (compared to 16.1 percent a year ago).
Plug-in hybrid car (PHEV) registrations decreased year-over-year for the eighth consecutive month, dragging down the overall plug-in segment. Let’s recall that this year, PHEVs are not supported by generous incentives, which is the main reason behind the substantial sales drop.
New plug-in vehicle registrations:
- BEVs: 86,649 – up 171% and 31.7% market share
- PHEVs: 14,552 – down 41% and 5.3% market share
- Total: 101,201 – up 78% and 37.0% market share
So far this year, more than 463,000 new passenger plug-in electric cars have been registered in Germany, which is over 24 percent of the total volume.
Registrations year-to-date:
- BEVs: 355,575 – up 56% and 18.6% market share
- PHEVs: 107,962 – down 42% and 5.6% market share
- Total: 463,537 – up 12% and 24.2% market share
For reference, in 2022, more than 832,000 new passenger plug-in cars were registered in Germany (31.4 percent of the total volume), compared to over 681,000 in 2021.
In August, the highest number of new plug-in electric car registrations was noted by the Volkswagen brand (11,683), which also noted the highest number of all-electric car registrations (11,418).
Next was Mercedes-Benz (8,034), which is the king of plug-in hybrids and most recently set its new record for BEV registrations at 4,659. BMW (third overall with 7,183 units) also set a new record for BEV registrations at 4,890.
Several other brands also set their BEV records, including Hyundai (6,523), Kia (4,139), Seat/Cupra (3,483), Skoda (3,345), and Toyota (981).
Our attention was caught by a group of Chinese manufacturers, which are entering the European market with strong results for BEV registrations. The manufacturers include MG Roewe (2,368), GWM (2,210), BYD (2,034), and NIO (411). The combined volume of the Chinese brands and other Chinese imports (like Dacia, part of the Smart brand), is now a serious threat to the local automotive industry.
Tesla had a relatively slow month with 6,903 new registrations (up 30.5 percent year-over-year).
Plug-in car registrations by brands (at least 2,000) last month:
- Volkswagen: 11683 – 11418 BEVs and 265 PHEVs
- Mercedes-Benz: 8034 – 4659 BEVs and 3375 PHEVs
- BMW: 7183 – 4890 BEVs and 2293 PHEVs
- Opel: 6999 – 6495 BEVs and 504 PHEVs
- Tesla: 6903 BEVs
- Hyundai: 6821 – 6523 BEVs and 298 PHEVs
- Audi: 4866 – 3374 BEVs and 1492 PHEVs
- Kia: 4683 – 4139 BEVs and 544 PHEVs
- Seat/Cupra: 4468 – 3483 BEVs and 985 PHEVs
- Skoda: 3676 – 3345 BEVs and 331 PHEVs
- Fiat: 3247 BEVs
- Renault: 3106 – 3074 BEVs and 32 PHEVs
- Dacia: 3027 BEVs
- smart: 2947 BEVs
- MG Roewe: 2368 BEVs
- GWM: 2211 – 2210 BEVs and 1 PHEV
- BYD: 2034 BEVs
After the first eight months of the year, the top three brands in terms of plug-in car sales were Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and Tesla. If we exclude plug-in hybrids, the top three are Volkswagen, Tesla, and Mercedes-Benz.
Plug-in car registrations by brands (at least 8,000) year-to-date:
- Volkswagen: 58082 – 52893 BEVs and 5189 PHEVs
- Mercedes-Benz: 50769 – 25272 BEVs and 25497 PHEVs
- Tesla: 47192 BEVs
- BMW: 34596 – 20877 BEVs and 13719 PHEVs
- Audi: 30863 – 20160 BEVs and 10703 PHEVs
- Hyundai: 24990 – 21934 BEVs and 3056 PHEVs
- Opel: 19111 – 15423 BEVs and 3688 PHEVs
- Seat: 18690 – 11156 BEVs and 7534 PHEVs
- Skoda: 16322 – 13010 BEVs and 3312 PHEVs
- Fiat: 14536 BEVs
- Kia: 14475 – 10367 BEVs and 4108 PHEVs
- smart: 12608 BEVs
- MG Roewe: 12034 – 12014 BEVs and 20 PHEVs
- Volvo: 11980 – 6232 BEVs and 5748 PHEVs
- Renault: 11470 – 10874 BEVs and 596 PHEVs
- Peugeot: 9894 – 7698 BEVs and 2196 PHEVs
- Ford: 9267 – 3044 BEVs and 6223 PHEVs
- MINI: 9194 – 8962 BEVs and 232 PHEVs
- Dacia: 8148 BEVs
Last month, the Volkswagen ID.4/ID.5 duo happened to be the most registered BEV in Germany (5,683 units), noticeably ahead of the Tesla Model Y (4,795) and Volkswagen ID.3 (3,636).
The Tesla Model Y remains the top-selling all-electric car in Germany, although there are several Volkswagen Group’s MEB-based models at the top with a pretty significant combined volume.
Top all-electric models year-to-date:
- Tesla Model Y – 34,687
- Volkswagen ID.4/ID.5 – 28,088
- Volkswagen ID.3 – 17,283
- Fiat 500 electric – 14,352
- Skoda Enyaq iV – 13,009
- Audi Q4 e-tron – 12,002
- Tesla Model 3 – 11,060
