The German passenger car market recorded a 3 percent year-on-year decline in November. The Federal Motor Transport Authority registered 290,150 new registrations. In the first eleven months, the minus was 22 percent. A total of 2.61 million passenger cars were newly registered. Of the international brands, 1,047,520 passenger cars were newly registered between January and November. During this period, the market share of the VDIK members rose to over 40 percent (previous year: 38.6 percent).
The private market grew significantly in November compared to the same month last year – by 23 percent. Reinhard Zirpel, President of the Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, explained: “This is the strongest November in the private market since 2009. This is remarkable. The reduction in value-added tax is taking effect. As it expires at the end of the year, many customers are apparently still taking advantage of this good opportunity. Since the middle of the year, private buyers have been the driving force behind the recovery of the passenger car market”. In the second half of the year, new private registrations rose by a total of 9 percent, above the average level of the last ten years. In the first eleven months, more than 965,000 new registrations were recorded by private customers. The 17 percent decline is significantly lower than that of the market as a whole (minus 22 percent).
The market for diesel passenger cars fell by 25 percent in November. A total of over 752,200 diesel passenger cars were newly registered between January and November. The share of passenger cars with diesel engines has thus fallen to 29 percent (same period in 2019: 32 percent).
The alternative drive systems recorded significant growth rates. According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, 28,965 passenger cars with battery electric drives were newly registered (up 523 percent). In addition, 30,621 new plug-in hybrids (up 383 percent) hit the roads.
The commercial vehicle market rose to 36,570 new registrations (plus 4 percent) in November. Over the year as a whole, however, there was a decline of 16 percent. For light commercial vehicles up to 3.5 t, the minus was 13 percent, while new registrations of heavy commercial vehicles fell by 29 percent.
