German EV Sales Plummet In September 2023 After Incentive Cuts

In September, new passenger car registrations in Germany amounted to 224,502 – basically on par with the volume a year ago. During the first nine months of 2023, 2,138,066 new cars were registered (up 14.5 percent year-over-year).

Meanwhile, the plug-in electric car segment experienced a significant decrease in new registrations last month due to the end of EV incentives for business buyers. The end of some incentives also explains the rush for new electric company cars in August, when all-electric car registrations surged by 171 percent year-over-year to almost 32 percent of the total market.

In September, the total new plug-in electric car registrations amounted to 47,097 (down 35 percent year-over-year), which is 21 percent of the total volume (compared to 32.3 percent a year ago).

Battery electric car (BEV) registrations decreased by 29 percent year-over-year to 31,714 taking slightly over 14 percent of the market (still almost twice as much as in the United States in the recent months). A year ago, it was almost 20 percent.

Plug-in hybrid car (PHEV) registrations decreased as well, by 46 percent year-over-year to 15,383, but that’s not a surprise. It was the ninth consecutive month of year-over-year decline for PHEVs.

The sales results (boost and collapse) are pretty typical for the months preceding and following the incentive change. In the near term, sales should improve again, especially because in the beginning of 2024, there are additional EV incentive cuts expected. After that, we will see what is the EV sales potential without support.

Plug-in car registrations last month (YOY change):

BEVs: 31,714 (down 29%) and 14.1% market share
PHEVs: 15,383 (down 46%) and 6.9% market share
Total: 47,097 (down 35%) and 21% market share

So far this year, more than 510,000 new passenger plug-in electric cars have been registered in Germany, which is roughly 24 percent of the total volume.

Plug-in car registrations year-to-date (YOY change):

BEVs: 387,289 (up 42%) and 18.1% market share
PHEVs: 123,345 (down 43%) and 5.8% market share
Total: 510,634 (up 5%) and 23.9% market share

For reference, in 2022, more than 832,000 new passenger plug-in cars were registered in Germany (31.4 percent of the total volume), compared to over 681,000 in 2021.

In September, the highest number of new plug-in electric car registrations was noted by Mercedes-Benz (6,451), followed by Opel (4,670) and Tesla (4,216). Tesla was the number one in terms of all-electric car registrations.

Interesting is the relatively far behind position of the Volkswagen brand, which suggests that it was significantly affected by the change in incentives (probably a higher than average ratio of company car sales).

Plug-in car registrations by brands (at least 2,000) last month:

Mercedes-Benz: 6,451 – 2,933 BEVs and 3,518 PHEVs
Opel: 4,670 – 3,726 BEVs and 944 PHEVs
Tesla: 4,216 BEVs
BMW: 3,891 – 1,750 BEVs and 2,141 PHEVs
Audi: 3,151 – 1,845 BEVs and 1,306 PHEVs
Volkswagen: 2,921 – 2,653 BEVs and 268 PHEVs
Seat: 2,111 – 976 BEVs and 1,135 PHEVs

After the first nine months of the year, the top three brands in terms of plug-in car sales were Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and Tesla. If we exclude plug-in hybrids, the top three are Volkswagen, Tesla, and Mercedes-Benz.

Plug-in car registrations by brands (at least 10,000) year-to-date:

Volkswagen: 61,003 – 55,546 BEVs and 5,457 PHEVs
Mercedes-Benz: 57,220 – 28,205 BEVs and 29,015 PHEVs
Tesla: 51,408 BEVs
BMW: 38,487 – 22,627 BEVs and 15,860 PHEVs
Audi: 34,014 – 22,005 BEVs and 12,009 PHEVs
Hyundai: 26,664 – 23,257 BEVs and 3,407 PHEVs
Opel: 23,781 – 19,149 BEVs and 4,632 PHEVs
Seat: 20,801 – 12,132 BEVs and 8,669 PHEVs
Skoda: 18,003 – 14,147 BEVs and 3,856 PHEVs
Fiat: 16,304 BEVs
Kia: 15,880 – 11,298 BEVs and 4,582 PHEVs
smart: 13,427 BEVs
Volvo: 13,001 – 6,493 BEVs and 6,508 PHEVs
MG Roewe: 12,745 – 12,725 BEVs and 20 PHEVs
Renault: 12,314 – 11,689 BEVs and 625 PHEVs
Peugeot: 11,322 – 8,863 BEVs and 2,459 PHEVs
Ford: 10,905 – 3,268 BEVs and 7,637 PHEVs
MINI: 10,028 – 9,775 BEVs and 253 PHEVs

Last month, the Tesla Model Y (3,921) happened to be the most registered BEV in Germany, although the result was 60 percent lower than a year ago.

Interestingly, the Opel Corsa-e noted 2,175 new registrations, which is 222 percent more than a year ago. Third best was the Fiat 500 electric with 1,765 units (down six percent).

The Volkswagen ID.4/ID.5 duo (1,265 and down 48 percent) was fifth, slightly behind the Opel Mokka-e (1,286 and up 37 percent).

We noticed also 31 registrations of the all-new Volkswagen ID.7, which indicates that it’s entering the market.

Year-to-date, the Tesla Model Y has strengthened as the top-selling all-electric car in Germany, although the overall position of the Volkswagen Group and Stellantis remain strong in the BEV segment.

Top all-electric models year-to-date (YOY change):