Germany: Plug-In Car Sales Decreased 1% In March 2023

BEV and PHEV sales parted ways, as BEVs continue to grow while PHEVs continue to shrink.

Tesla Model Y

Mark Kane

By: Mark Kane

Apr 19, 2023 at 12:42pm ET

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In March, new passenger car registrations in Germany increased by 16.6 percent year-over-year to 281,361. During the first quarter of 2023, a total of 666,818 cars were registered (up 6.5% year-over-year).

Meanwhile, the plug-in electric car segment noted a slight decline of 1.4 percent year-over-year to 60,901 registrations. That's because of the collapse of the plug-in hybrid sales (without a $4,930/€4,500 incentive this year). Plug-in hybrids noted 16,776 registrations (down 39 percent), which is 6.0 percent of the total volume.

In the case of battery-electric (BEV) car sales, incentives are still available this year but were reduced (to $4,930/€4,500 for models under $43,824/€40,000, and $3,286/€3,000 for models under $71,217/€65,000). BEV registrations in March increased by 28 percent year-over-year to 44,125, taking almost 16 percent of the car market.

We assume that the situation will improve in the later part of the year, because of more models and sometimes noticeably lower prices.

New plug-in vehicle registrations:

BEVs: 44,125 – up 28% at 15.7% market share
PHEVs: 16,776 – down 39% at 6.0% market share
Total: 60,901 – down 1.4% at 21.6% market share

Plug-in electric car registrations in Germany – March 2023

So far this year, more than 132,000 passenger plug-in electric cars were registered in Germany, which is 13 percent less than a year ago.

Registrations year-to-date:

BEVs: 94,736 – up 13% at 14.2% market share
PHEVs: 37,545 – down 45% at 5.6% market share
Total: 132,281 – down 13% at 19.8% market share

For reference, in 2022, more than 832,000 new passenger plug-in cars were registered in Germany, compared to over 681,000 in 2021.

Top brands

In March, Tesla once again was the top brand in terms of plug-in electric car registrations (8,703 units).

However, it's worth noting that Volkswagen (7,422 BEV/PHEV) and Mercedes-Benz (7,342 BEV/PHEV) were not far behind. The main advantage of Tesla is that it's selling only BEVs, and here the difference is bigger (Volkswagen noted 6,471 BEVs while Mercedes-Benz sold 3,269 BEVs).

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

Tesla: 8703 - 8703 BEVs
Volkswagen: 7422 - 6471 BEVs and 951 PHEVs
Mercedes-Benz: 7342 - 3269 BEVs and 4073 PHEVs
Audi: 4864 - 2870 BEVs and 1994 PHEVs
BMW: 4284 - 2373 BEVs and 1911 PHEVs
Hyundai: 2799 - 2401 BEVs and 398 PHEVs
Seat: 2459 - 1264 BEVs and 1195 PHEVs
Volvo: 2066 - 994 BEVs and 1072 PHEVs
smart: 1809 - 1809 BEVs
MG Roewe: 1776 - 1775 BEVs and 1 PHEV
Opel: 1571 - 943 BEVs and 628 PHEVs
Fiat: 1552 - 1552 BEVs
Renault: 1505 - 1348 BEVs and 157 PHEVs
Skoda: 1470 - 1208 BEVs and 262 PHEVs
Kia: 1440 - 957 BEVs and 483 PHEVs
Peugeot: 1407 - 1052 BEVs and 355 PHEVs
MINI: 1349 - 1300 BEVs and 49 PHEVs
Ford: 1140 - 438 BEVs and 702 PHEVs

After March, Tesla strengthened at the top, with more than 20,000 BEVs. For reference, Volkswagen's BEV sales amounted to 13,443 (when including other brands in the group, the German manufacturer is ahead of Tesla).

Plug-in car registrations by brands (at least 3,000) year-to-date:

Tesla: 20655 - 20655 BEVs
Volkswagen: 16446 - 13443 BEVs and 3003 PHEVs
Mercedes-Benz: 15855 - 7298 BEVs and 8557 PHEVs
Audi: 11587 - 7637 BEVs and 3950 PHEVs
BMW: 8384 - 4334 BEVs and 4050 PHEVs
Hyundai: 6074 - 5394 BEVs and 680 PHEVs
Seat: 5511 - 2445 BEVs and 3066 PHEVs
Volvo: 4548 - 2284 BEVs and 2264 PHEVs
Skoda: 3891 - 2736 BEVs and 1155 PHEVs
smart: 3380 - 3380 BEVs
Opel: 3352 - 2113 BEVs and 1239 PHEVs
Peugeot: 3298 - 2235 BEVs and 1063 PHEVs
MG Roewe: 3131 - 3117 BEVs and 14 PHEVs
Fiat: 3125 - 3125 BEVs

Top models

In terms of models, the Tesla Model Y was the best-selling electric car in March and in Q1. Last month, the Model Y noted 5,071 units (up 125 percent year-over-year), while in Q1 it was 15,851.

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The next three best-selling BEVs were the Volkswagen ID.4/ID.5 (3,212 and 6,782 YTD), Volkswagen ID.3 (2,582 and 5,285 YTD), and Tesla Model 3 (2,560 and 4,188 YTD).

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

Tesla Model Y - 15,851
Volkswagen ID.4/ID.5 - 6,782
Volkswagen ID.3 - 5,285
Tesla Model 3 - 4,188