Passenger car market up 31 percent in November

The German passenger car market grew strongly in November. According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, 260,600 new passenger cars were registered. This was 31 percent more than in the same month last year. In the first eleven months, the volume of new registrations was 2 percent (2.34 million units) below the previous year’s level. International manufacturers achieved a market share of just over 39 percent in the first eleven months of 2022.

Reinhard Zirpel, President of the Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (VDIK), said: “At the end of an overall disappointing automotive year, there is hope for a small final spurt. November was quite encouraging. There are also indications of good registration figures for December. Many customers and dealers still want to register as many new e-vehicles as possible before the environmental bonus subsidy is significantly cut at the beginning of 2023. Nevertheless, we expect the market to remain at its low point in 2022, with a total of 2.6 million new passenger cars.”

Sales of all-electric passenger cars rose 22 percent to more than 58,000 units. Plug-in hybrids increased by 60 percent, even more than the previous month. Since subsidies for plug-in hybrids will cease completely in January, they are currently catching up strongly. Pure battery-electric cars and plug-in hybrids together accounted for a market share of 39 percent in November. This means that four out of ten new passenger cars were electric vehicles. Fifteen percent of all new cars were delivered with a diesel engine in November.

Private new registrations grew by 23 percent in November to 94,000 units. After eleven months, the private passenger car market was thus 2 percent above the previous year’s level, and its share of the total market rose to 36 percent.

The commercial vehicle market grew by 14 percent in November to 32,500 new registrations. At over 280,000 units, however, the total after 11 months was down 13 percent.