Passenger car market in Germany 2024: Electric production at a new record – massive drop in new electric vehicle registrations

At the end of the year, domestic car production reached a volume of 232,900 units in December. This is 10% less than in December of the previous year. In total, 4.1mn cars rolled off the production lines in 2024, same as in the previous year. However, compared to the pre-crisis year of 2019, production was still 12% lower than that year.

In addition, the detailed production data for the month of November are now available, broken down by drive type. They show that in November, more electric cars were produced in Germany than in any previous month. In the new record month, 155,700 electric cars were manufactured in Germany, 29% more than in the same month last year. With 120,500 units, more BEVs rolled off the production lines in Germany in a single month than ever before. In addition, 35,200 PHEVs were produced. In total, almost 1.3mn electric cars were manufactured in Germany in the first eleven months of 2024. This is already more than in the whole of 2023, meaning that a new production record for electric vehicles has been set after just eleven months.

Exports in December were also below the previous year's level. At 196,300 cars, export volume last month fell by 9% compared to the same month last year. In 2024 as a whole, almost 3.2mn cars were delivered from German factories to customers around the world, 2% more than in 2023. This means that exports remain 9% below the pre-crisis level of 2019, when 3.5mn new cars were exported from Germany.

In December, German manufacturers' domestic orders rose by 35% compared to the weak previous year. Over the course of the year, domestic orders increased by 12%. Orders from abroad developed more weakly: in December they fell by 6% compared to the same month last year. For the year as a whole, foreign orders were at the same level as the previous year.

New car registrations in Germany fell in December compared to the previous year. At 224,700 units, 7% fewer new cars were registered than in December 2023.

The balance for the year as a whole also remains behind the previous year's figures, albeit only slightly: In 2024, a total of 2.8mn new vehicles were registered on the German passenger car market, 1% less than in 2023. However, the comparison with the pre-crisis level remains clearly negative: last year, 22% fewer new vehicles were registered than in 2019.

In December 2024, 52,660 electric vehicles were newly registered. This represented a decrease of 27% compared to the same month last year. While BEVs (–39%) fell sharply, PHEVs rose (+7%). A total of 572,700 electric cars were newly registered over the course of the year, 18% fewer than in the previous year. A closer look, however, reveals that BEVs fell by 27% over the past twelve months, while the PHEV market grew by 9%.