New registrations: Two thirds fewer BEVs than a year ago

New car registrations in Germany in August fell by 27.8 percent to 197,322 vehicles compared to the same month last year. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were hit even harder. New registrations of BEVs recorded their sharpest ever decline compared to the same month last year. To be more precise, only 27,024 purely battery-electric passenger cars (BEVs) rolled onto the roads in August 2024, which corresponds to a drop of 68.8% compared to the very strong same month of the previous year. This is the result of an analysis of the statistics of the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) by the Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (VDIK).

“A special effect is also responsible for the historic slump of more than two thirds in BEVs: after the abolition of the purchase premium for commercial customers was announced for September 2023, the registration figures for purely battery-electric passenger cars peaked in August last year. The current slump therefore does not come as a complete surprise, but nevertheless with great force. Above all, the decline in the overall market by more than a quarter of the passenger car volume is an additional blow to the automotive industry,” says VDIK President André Schmidt.

The share of BEVs in total registrations was only 13.7 percent in August 2024, compared to 31.7 percent in August last year. Since the beginning of the year, the number of new BEV registrations has amounted to 241,911 cars (-32.0%).

In the case of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), there was a weaker decline of 6.8% last month compared to the same month last year, with 13,565 new registrations. The PHEV market share in August was 6.9 percent. Since the beginning of the year, new registrations have totaled 117,925 units (+9.2%).

In total, electric vehicles – i.e. BEVs and PHEVs combined – accounted for 40,589 new car registrations in August, 59.9% fewer than in the same month last year. Their market share was 20.6% (August 2023: 37.0%). Between January and August, 359,836 electric passenger cars were newly registered, a decrease of 22.4% compared to the same period last year.

The number of new commercial vehicle registrations in August was 23,251, 37.2% lower than in August of the previous year. Since the beginning of the year, new registrations totaled 259,031 commercial vehicles (+5.7%).