Passenger car market grows slightly in August

According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, 199,200 new passenger cars were registered in Germany in August. This is 3 percent more than in the same month last year. After six months in reverse gear, the passenger car market is up year-on-year for the first time since February. However, the increase is merely the result of an extremely weak month last year and an additional working day in August 2022. In the first eight months of this year, the overall volume of new registrations fell by 10 percent to 1.64 million units. International manufacturers achieved a 40 percent market share in the first eight months of 2022.

Reinhard Zirpel, President of the Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (VDIK), said, “The minimal growth in new registrations in August cannot hide the fact that the German passenger car market in 2022 is heading for its worst performance in about 30 years. The monthly level of new registrations remains significantly below the long-term average. And new orders are also declining significantly.”

New registrations of electric vehicles were up 6 percent in August. New registrations of plug-in hybrids were up 1 percent. The KBA also registered 32,200 new purely battery-electric passenger cars (up 11 percent). With a 28 percent share of the overall market, e-vehicles reached a new high. In the first eight months, 415,700 battery-electric passenger cars and plug-in hybrids were newly registered (down 1 percent).

In August, 18 percent of all new cars had a diesel engine. Private new registrations increased to 73,800 units in August. After 8 months, the private passenger car market remains down about 3 percent at around 592,000. Its share of the overall market is currently 36 percent.

The commercial vehicle market, on the other hand, was unable to match the previous year’s level. It declined by 5 percent to 24,600 new registrations. At just under 199,000 units, the truck market is down 17 percent after 8 months.