Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
InsideEVs
InsideEVs
Business
Mark Kane

Germany: Plug-In Car Sales Decreased Slightly In May 2022

New passenger car registrations in Germany decreased in May by 10.2% year-over-year to 207,199, which is not a surprise considering the current market situation. On the positive side, the rate of decline slowed down compared to March and April.

Last month, some 52,391 new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered in Germany, which unfortunately is also down 3% year-over-year (compared to a 14% decrease in April). A good thing is that the market share of rechargeable cars improved to 25.3%. That's one in four new cars.

As we can see below, all-electric car sales actually increased in May by 9% year-over-year, which means that the main issue is the slowdown on the plug-in hybrid side.

Results by type:

  • BEVs: 29,182 – up 9% at 14.1% market share
  • PHEVs: 23,209 – down 15% at 11.2% market share
  • Total: 52,391 – down 3% at 25.3% market share

We are cautiously optimistic about the near future because it seems that production of new electric cars in Germany has not only returned to pre-war levels (at least in the case of Volkswagen) but also new plants are ramping-up production (Tesla Giga Berlin, Volkswagen ID.4 in Emden, Volkswagen ID. Buzz in Hanover to name just a few). Tesla is also sending more EVs from China to Europe again.

Plug-in electric car registrations in Germany – May 2022

So far this year, more than 247,000 new passenger plug-in cars were registered in Germany:

  • BEVs: 135,029 – up 17% at 13.3% market share
  • PHEVs: 112,677 – down 15% at 11.1% market share
  • Total: 247,706 – up 0.1% at 24.4% market share

Top brands

According to the official data, this time the Volkswagen brand noted the highest number of new plug-in electric car registrations, ahead of BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz. Volkswagen is also the top one in terms of all-electric cars (4,379 units), while BMW noted the highest number of plug-in hybrids (3,539).

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

  • Volkswagen: 5643 - 4379 BEVs and 1264 PHEVs
  • BMW: 4882 - 1343 BEVs and 3539 PHEVs
  • Audi: 4289 - 2323 BEVs and 1966 PHEVs
  • Mercedes-Benz: 3922 - 1881 BEVs and 2041 PHEVs
  • Hyundai: 3404 - 2469 BEVs and 935 PHEVs
  • SEAT: 3219 - 837 BEVs and 2382 PHEVs
  • Opel: 2639 - 2242 BEVs and 397 PHEVs
  • Kia: 2592 - 962 BEVs and 1630 PHEVs
  • Ford: 2294 - 334 BEVs and 1960 PHEVs
  • Skoda: 2239 - 1173 BEVs and 1066 PHEVs
  • Renault: 2201 - 1831 BEVs and 370 PHEVs

Top models

Last month, among the top all-electric cars were the Opel Corsa-e (1,889), Volkswagen ID.4/ID.5 (1,849), Fiat 500 electric (1,834), Volkswagen ID.3 (1,356), Dacia Spring (1,326), Hyundai Kona Electric (1,323), Skoda Enyaq iV (1,173) Audi e-tron (1,147), smart fortwo EQ (1,135), Volkswagen e-up! (1,123) and Hyundai Ioniq 5 (1,043).

Year-to-date the Tesla Model 3 remains #1, but the Fiat 500 electric is closing in, while the ID.4/ID.5 is approaching the Tesla Model Y.

The top all-electric models year-to-date:

  • Tesla Model 3 - 10,037
  • Fiat 500 electric - 8,305
  • Hyundai Kona Electric - 6,345
  • Volkswagen ID.4/ID.5 - 5,618
  • Tesla Model Y - 5,314
  • BMW i3 - 5,181
  • Opel Corsa-e - 5,030
  • Renault ZOE - 4,974
  • Skoda Enyaq iV - 4,796
  • smart fortwo EQ - 4,742
  • Audi e-tron - 4,620
  • Volkswagen ID.3 - 4,464
  • Hyundai Ioniq 5 - 4,107

Official stats (KBA):

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.