In May, new passenger car registrations in Germany increased by 19 percent year-over-year to 246,966. During the first five months of 2023, a total of 1,116,731 new cars were registered (up 10 percent year-over-year).

Plug-in electric car registrations in May amounted to 56,583 (up 8 percent year-over-year), which is nearly 23 percent of the total volume (compared to over 25 percent a year ago).

This slower rate of growth (compared to the total market) is caused by the plug-in hybrid car segment, which continue to shrink - by 41 percent year-over-year in May to 13,803 units.

On the other hand, all-electric car registrations far outpace the general market, reaching 42,780 units last month (up 47 percent year-over-year) and 17.3 percent market share (compared to 14.1 percent a year ago).

New plug-in vehicle registrations:

  • BEVs: 42,780 – up 47% at 17.3% market share
  • PHEVs: 13,803 – down 41% at 5.6% market share
  • Total: 56,583 – up 8.0% at 22.9% market share

Plug-in electric car registrations in Germany – May 2023

So far this year, more than 230,000 passenger plug-in electric cars have been registered in Germany, which is 7 percent less than a year ago.

Registrations year-to-date:

  • BEVs: 167,256 – up 24% at 15.0% market share
  • PHEVs: 63,135 – down 44% at 5.7% market share
    * In 2023, PHEVs are no longer eligible for incentives.
  • Total: 230,391 – down 7% at 20.6% 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.

Top brands

In May, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and BMW noted the highest number of new plug-in electric car registrations. Volkswagen was also the top one in terms of all-electric cars.

Plug-in car registrations by brands (at least 1,000) last month:

  • Mercedes-Benz: 7472 - 3763 BEVs and 3709 PHEVs
  • Volkswagen: 7184 - 6772 BEVs and 412 PHEVs
  • BMW: 5769 - 3816 BEVs and 1953 PHEVs
  • Tesla: 5265 - 5265 BEVs
  • Audi: 3676 - 2324 BEVs and 1352 PHEVs
  • Hyundai: 2872 - 2306 BEVs and 566 PHEVs
  • Skoda: 2110 - 1692 BEVs and 418 PHEVs
  • Opel: 2022 - 1413 BEVs and 609 PHEVs
  • Kia: 1808 - 1070 BEVs and 738 PHEVs
  • Seat: 1674 - 1109 BEVs and 565 PHEVs
  • smart: 1623 - 1623 BEVs
  • MG Roewe: 1620 - 1620 BEVs
  • Fiat: 1619 - 1619 BEVs
  • Volvo: 1443 - 795 BEVs and 648 PHEVs
  • Ford: 1258 - 401 BEVs and 857 PHEVs
  • MINI: 1209 - 1184 BEVs and 25 PHEVs
  • Peugeot: 1144 - 959 BEVs and 185 PHEVs
  • Renault: 1065 - 1039 BEVs and 26 PHEVs

After the first five months of the year, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and Tesla are the top ones in terms of plug-in car sales. Tesla is the top one in the BEV category, slightly ahead of Volkswagen.

Plug-in car registrations by brands (at least 5,000) year-to-date:

  • Volkswagen: 29478 - 25583 BEVs and 3895 PHEVs
  • Mercedes-Benz: 28541 - 13383 BEVs and 15158 PHEVs
  • Tesla: 28340 - 28340 BEVs
  • Audi: 18113 - 11836 BEVs and 6277 PHEVs
  • BMW: 17458 - 9973 BEVs and 7485 PHEVs
  • Hyundai: 11107 - 9484 BEVs and 1623 PHEVs
  • Seat: 8908 - 4488 BEVs and 4420 PHEVs
  • Skoda: 7659 - 5833 BEVs and 1826 PHEVs
  • Volvo: 7268 - 3592 BEVs and 3676 PHEVs
  • Opel: 7104 - 4787 BEVs and 2317 PHEVs
  • smart: 6562 - 6562 BEVs
  • MG Roewe: 5761 - 5745 BEVs and 16 PHEVs
  • Fiat: 5748 - 5748 BEVs
  • Peugeot: 5427 - 3956 BEVs and 1471 PHEVs
  • Kia: 5401 - 3230 BEVs and 2171 PHEVs

Top models

Last month, the Tesla Model Y happened to be the most registered electric model in Germany (4,240), strengthening at the top of the year-to-date list. The Volkswagen ID.4/ID.5 noted 3,720.

It's an interesting race between the Tesla Model Y and a family of MEB-based crossover/SUV models from Volkswagen Group, which counted together (3,720 ID.4/ID.5, 1,692 Skoda Enyaq iV and 1,644 Audi Q4 e-tron) stand at 7,056.

Top all-electric models year-to-date:

  • Tesla Model Y - 21,727
  • Volkswagen ID.4/ID.5 - 13,225
  • Volkswagen ID.3 - 9,520
  • Audi Q4 e-tron - 6,616
  • Skoda Enyaq iV - 5,832
  • Fiat 500 electric - 5,668
  • Tesla Model 3 - 5,619
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