The German car market fell again in August, weighed down by the collapse in sales of electric cars, which recorded their biggest drop in a year due to a base effect and a particularly gloomy economic climate.
A total of 197,322 cars were registered in Germany, 27.8 percent fewer than a year earlier, the Federal Automobile Agency (KBA) said in a statement on Wednesday.
The electric market plunged by 68.8%, with only 27,024 electric cars sold, compared to a very good month of August last year.
A peak last year
After the announcement of the abolition of the purchase premium for commercial vehicles for September last year, demand for electric cars exploded in August. Sales reached a peak, with 86,649 electric cars sold.
“The current fall is therefore not entirely surprising, but it is nevertheless very violent,” comments André Schmidt, president of the Federation of International Automobile Manufacturers (VDIK).
In August, electric cars accounted for only 13.7% of the market share, far behind the 2023 average of over 18%. The electric car market has been collapsing for a year in Germany, against a backdrop of the government’s withdrawal of purchase subsidies.
The drop in registrations also affected almost all types of engines: hybrids (-1.5%), petrol (-7.4%) and diesel (-24.4%).
“The decline of more than a quarter in the volume of passenger cars on the entire market is a serious blow to the automotive industry,” the VDIK chairman emphasizes.
Sales are 37% below their August 2019 level before the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. “And there is very little to suggest that the situation is going to improve,” comments Jan Miller, an analyst at EY.