Germany’s Car Market Rises in October with Strong Growth for Electric Vehicles

In October, the number of new car registrations in Germany rose significantly compared to the same month last year. According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) in Flensburg, a total of 250,133 new vehicles were registered, marking an increase of 7.8% year-on-year. Electric vehicles in particular saw a sharp rise — more than one in five newly registered cars was a purely electric model.

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The number of battery-electric vehicles increased by 47.7% compared to the same month last year, with 52,425 new electric cars registered, the KBA reported. In September, their share of total new registrations was 19.3%; in October, it rose to 21%.

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Hybrid vehicles again held the largest market share, with nearly twice as many new registrations as fully electric cars. Around 31,000 of the new hybrids were plug-in hybrids. The year-on-year increase in this category was even stronger than for fully electric cars, at 60.0%.

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For the first time, the number of new plug-in hybrids exceeded that of newly registered diesel cars, which totaled around 30,500. According to the KBA, this represents a decline of 15.8% compared to the previous year. In addition, nearly 65,000 new gasoline-powered cars were registered, a decrease of 12.9% compared to October of last year.

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Experts from the consulting firm EY, however, cautioned that despite the noticeable increase in registrations, the overall new car market so far this year remains only 0.5% above the level of the same period last year. “Overall, the sales volume in Germany remains low, even compared to the pre-crisis year 2019,” EY stated.

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The sharp increase in electric vehicle registrations is also partly due to the particularly weak figures from the previous year, when sales of electric cars in Germany slumped following the end of government purchase incentives. “Accordingly, while electric car sales this year are significantly higher than during the same period last year, they are only slightly, by 2% higher than in the comparable period of 2023,” the report noted.

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“2024 was a catastrophic year for electromobility in Germany,” said EY expert Constantin Gall. “So we cannot speak of a genuine ramp-up of e-mobility in Germany.”

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