Germany: All-Electric Car Sales Share Improved To 20% In July 2023

In July, new passenger car registrations in Germany increased by 18 percent year-over-year to 243,277. During the first seven months of 2023, 1,640,147 new cars were registered (up 13.6 percent year-over-year).

Meanwhile, the plug-in electric car segment continued to expand, despite the fact that only battery electric cars (BEV) are growing this year.

In July, the total new plug-in electric car registrations amounted to 63,027 (up 20 percent year-over-year), which is 25.9 percent of the total volume (compared to 25.5 percent a year ago).

All-electric car registrations amounted to 48,682 (up 69 percent year-over-year), which was enough to capture 20.0 percent of the market (compared to 14.0 percent a year ago). That's the highest BEV share so far this year.

On the other hand, plug-in hybrid car registrations, decreased year-over-year for the seventh consecutive month, dragging down the overall plug-in segment. Let's recall that this year, PHEVs are not supported by the generous incentives, which is the main reason behind the substantial sales drop.

New plug-in vehicle registrations:

• BEVs: 48,682 – up 69% at 20.0% market share
• PHEVs: 14,345 – down 40% at 5.9% market share
• Total: 63,027 – up 20% at 25.9% market share
• Plug-in electric car registrations in Germany – July 2023

So far this year, more than 362,000 new passenger plug-in electric cars have been registered in Germany, which is one percent more than a year ago.

Registrations year-to-date:

• BEVs: 268,926 – up 37% at 16.4% market share
• PHEVs: 93,410 – down 43% at 5.7% market share
• Total: 362,336 – up 1% at 22.1% 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.

Top brands
In July, the highest number of new plug-in electric car registrations was noted by three German brands - Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW. Tesla was fourth overall, and second in terms of BEV registrations, behind Volkswagen. Mercedes-Benz remains the king of PHEVs.

Plug-in car registrations by brands (at least 2,000) last month:

• Volkswagen: 7504 - 7061 BEVs and 443 PHEVs
• Mercedes-Benz: 6961 - 3700 BEVs and 3261 PHEVs
• BMW: 5177 - 3142 BEVs and 2035 PHEVs
• Tesla: 3905 - 3905 BEVs
• Hyundai: 3767 - 3314 BEVs and 453 PHEVs
• Audi: 3709 - 2371 BEVs and 1338 PHEVs
• Seat: 2755 - 1744 BEVs and 1011 PHEVs
• Fiat: 2516 - 2516 BEVs
• Skoda: 2396 - 1896 BEVs and 500 PHEVs
• Opel: 2370 - 1935 BEVs and 435 PHEVs
• Kia: 2218 - 1628 BEVs and 590 PHEVs

Thanks to a solid July, Volkswagen become the number one brand in terms of all-electric car registrations in Germany, overtaking Tesla (41,475 vs. 40,289). It will be interesting to see whether Volkswagen will maintain its position through the end of the quarter and end of the year, as Tesla often notes the highest results at the end of a quarter.

Plug-in car registrations by brands (at least 7,000) year-to-date:

• Volkswagen: 46399 - 41475 BEVs and 4924 PHEVs
• Mercedes-Benz: 42735 - 20613 BEVs and 22122 PHEVs
• Tesla: 40289 - 40289 BEVs
• BMW: 27413 - 15987 BEVs and 11426 PHEVs
• Audi: 25997 - 16786 BEVs and 9211 PHEVs
• Hyundai: 18169 - 15411 BEVs and 2758 PHEVs
• Seat: 14222 - 7673 BEVs and 6549 PHEVs
• Skoda: 12646 - 9665 BEVs and 2981 PHEVs
• Opel: 12112 - 8928 BEVs and 3184 PHEVs
• Fiat: 11289 - 11289 BEVs
• Volvo: 10163 - 4963 BEVs and 5200 PHEVs
• Kia: 9792 - 6228 BEVs and 3564 PHEVs
• MG Roewe: 9666 - 9646 BEVs and 20 PHEVs
• smart: 9661 - 9661 BEVs
• Renault: 8364 - 7800 BEVs and 564 PHEVs
• Peugeot: 8249 - 6274 BEVs and 1975 PHEVs
• Ford: 7434 - 2541 BEVs and 4893 PHEVs
• MINI: 7240 - 7052 BEVs and 188 PHEVs

Top BEV models
Last month, the Volkswagen ID.4/ID.5 duo happened to be the most registered BEV in Germany (4,028 units), significantly ahead of the Fiat 500 electric (2,487) and Tesla Model Y (2,067).

There are not many changes in the year-to-date ranking, as the Tesla Model Y is ahead of the Volkswagen ID.4/ID.5 and Volkswagen ID.3.

Top all-electric models year-to-date:

• Tesla Model Y - 29,892
• Volkswagen ID.4/ID.5 - 22,405
• Volkswagen ID.3 - 13,647
• Fiat 500 electric - 11,159
• Audi Q4 e-tron - 9,737
• Skoda Enyaq iV - 9,664
• Tesla Model 3 - 9,045