Germany's EV sales surge 31.9% in September, but experts warn market growth is 'deceiving'

In September, Germany saw a significant increase in new car registrations compared to the same month last year. According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) in Flensburg, 235,528 vehicles were newly registered, surpassing last year’s figure by 12.8 percent. The KBA reported that registrations of electric vehicles continued to grow strongly.

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Battery-electric vehicles recorded a 31.9 percent increase, with 45,495 new registrations, raising their share of total new registrations to 19.3 percent. Hybrid vehicles also saw a rise of 28.9 percent, reaching 97,212 units, including 27,685 plug-in hybrids—a jump of 85.4 percent. Overall, hybrids accounted for 41.3 percent of new registrations.

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Conventional fuel vehicles saw declines: 63,047 gasoline-powered cars were registered, 5.9 percent fewer than last year, and diesel vehicles fell by 7.2 percent to 28,871 units. Combined, gasoline and diesel vehicles represented 39.1 percent of registrations. Additionally, 891 cars were registered with liquefied gas engines. The average CO2 emissions fell 8.8 percent year-on-year to 102.8 grams per kilometer.

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However, Thomas Peckruhn, president of the German Central Association of the Automotive Trade (ZDK), cautioned: "The gains are deceptive. They occur in an overall weak and declining market." He added that demand for battery-electric models is still not sufficiently driven by private buyers despite the growth.

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Consultancy EY reported that more electric cars were sold in a September than ever before. Year-to-date sales have risen 38 percent compared to last year, largely reflecting weak figures in 2024 after the environmental bonus was removed. Compared to the first nine months of 2023, however, EV sales are one percent lower.

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Constantin Gall, EY expert, said: "We are facing a persistently difficult situation in the German and overall European new car market. The economic climate in Germany remains bleak, structural problems of the German automotive sector are becoming increasingly apparent, and sentiment among businesses and consumers is poor."

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He noted that the September increase should not be seen as the start of a trend reversal. EY also highlighted that the numerical rise in registrations is partly due to September having one more working day than last year.

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