E-car sales on a downward trend
Sales of new cars in Germany continued to fall in August 2024 compared to the same month last year. This is mainly due to the recent weak demand for purely electric cars, according to figures from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA). But the numbers also fell significantly for almost all other types of drive. According to the KBA, around 69 percent fewer electric cars were newly registered in August than in August of the previous year. For cars with diesel engines, the decrease was 24.4 percent, and for cars with gasoline engines, 7.4 percent. Across all drive types, the decrease in the number of new registrations is 27.8 percent.
Tense car market
“The current slump in the German new car market is not yet a sign of a negative trend reversal, but is mainly due to special effects from the previous year. Nevertheless, it remains to be said that the situation on the new car market is extremely tense,” said Constantin Gall of the EY consultancy about the figures. “We are far from a sustainable recovery, and the gap to pre-crisis levels remains very large.” So far this year, almost 590,000 fewer new cars have been sold in Germany than in the same period in 2019, i.e. before the corona pandemic.
Disappointing electric car sales: the new normal?
In view of the few new registrations of electric cars, EY pointed out that an unusually high number of such vehicles were newly registered in August 2023. At that time, last-minute purchases by commercial customers had driven up new electric vehicle registrations – before the expiration of state subsidies for companies on September 1, 2023. According to the KBA, 13.7 percent of the cars newly registered in August 2024 were purely electric cars – EY calls this the “new normal”. From January to August 2023, the share of electric vehicles in all new registrations was 18.6 percent. In Gall’s view, there are several reasons for the ongoing weak sales in Germany: “The German economy is not gaining momentum, the willingness to consume and the mood to invest among private individuals and companies is very weak,” he said, according to the statement. “Geopolitical tensions and armed conflict are also depressing the mood. There is currently no sign of any positive dynamic.”
Growing production
While new registration figures have plummeted, car production in Germany grew significantly in August 2024 compared to the same month last year. According to the Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), 313,700 cars were manufactured in Germany in that month – 24 percent more than in August 2023. Since January 2024, a good 2.7 million cars have been produced in Germany – two percent less than in the previous year. “Compared to the pre-crisis year of 2019, however, production after eight months of the current year was still 14 percent below the previous figure,” said the VDA.
(With material from dpa.)
