Domestic passenger car production in 2025 was slightly above the previous year's level: 4.15mn passenger cars (+2%) rolled off domestic assembly lines last year. This marks the third consecutive year that domestic passenger car production has remained at roughly the same level. However, it remains significantly below pre-crisis levels: Production last year was 11% lower than in 2019, the last year before the pandemic. In December, 263,500 passenger cars were produced in Germany. Compared to the same month last year, this represents a strong increase of 17%. To put this in perspective, however, December 2025 was extremely weak and saw the lowest December production figure since German reunification. Furthermore, December 2025 had one more working day than December 2024.

Production of electric cars: Germany consolidates its position as world's second largest production location

Detailed production data (broken down by drive type) for November is now available. It shows that 162,500 e-cars were manufactured in November, 5% more than in the same month last year. Of these, 121,500 were purely battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and 41,000 were plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). This brings the total number of e-cars produced in Germany in the first eleven months of 2025 to almost 1.56mn. Excluding December, this already represents more than 200,000 units more than in the entire year of 2024, which was the previous record year for e-car production. VDA President Hildegard Müller stated: "The German automotive industry is continuing to accelerate its efforts in e-mobility, and Germany is consolidating its position as the world’s second-largest production location for electric cars. It is now crucial that policymakers further improve the framework conditions for e-mobility. In particular, we need more charging options for e-cars and electric commercial vehicles, a consistent expansion of the electricity grid, cheaper charging electricity, and improved access to raw materials critical to the transformation."

Regarding exports: In 2025, passenger car exports, totaling 3.17mn units, almost reached the previous year's level. However, they remain significantly below the pre-crisis level of 2019: the difference is 9%. Last December, exports at 217,900 units exceeded the figure for the same month of the previous year by 6%.

Domestic orders declined by 11% in December compared to the same month of the previous year. This was primarily due to the weak overall economic situation. Orders from abroad were 8% lower than the previous year. Overall (combining domestic and foreign orders) just over 8% fewer orders were registered in December 2025 than in December 2024. For the entire year of 2025, total order intake was just over 2% lower than the previous year.

Roughly one in three new car registrations in December was an e-car

In December 2025, more vehicles were newly registered on the German passenger car market than in the same month of the previous year: The number of passenger car registrations rose significantly by 10% to a volume of 246,400 units. In total, 2.86mn passenger cars were newly registered in 2025. This represents a 1% increase in new registrations compared to the previous year. However, the German passenger car market remains significantly below the level of 2019, the last pre-COVID year: In 2025, approximately 749,700 fewer units were newly registered in Germany than in 2019, corresponding to a decrease of 21%.

The German e-car market once again recorded significant growth. In the last month of last year, new registrations of electric vehicles (BEVs, PHEVs, FCEVs) rose by 61% to a volume of 85,000 units. Electric vehicles accounted for 34.5% of the total market share in the past month. In 2025, the German e-car market is projected to see a 50% increase compared to the previous year, reaching a volume of 856,600 new registrations. However, when comparing the 2025 e-car registration figures with the previous record year for e-car registrations (2022), they are only slightly higher, by just under 3% or around 23,100 units. Unfortunately, due to inadequate framework conditions, the market development of e-mobility is falling short of expectations and needs.

In detail: In December, registrations of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) rose by 63% to 54,800 units. New registrations of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) saw growth of a similar magnitude (+58%), reaching 30,300 vehicles. For the year as a whole, this results in an increase of 43% in new BEV registrations to 545,100 units. The PHEV segment grew somewhat more strongly, by 62%, reaching a volume of 311,400 vehicles in the past year.

The outlook:
Slight decline in domestic production, slight increase in foreign production

For domestic passenger car production in 2026, the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) expects a slight decline of 1% to 4.11mn units, as already communicated last December. However, domestic production of electric passenger cars is expected to continue its positive development. Exports of passenger cars from German manufacturers' plants are projected to decline slightly overall by 1% to 3.14mn vehicles in 2026. Foreign production by German brands is expected to increase by 1% to 9.2mn vehicles.

The VDA continues to anticipate a moderate increase of just under 2% to 2.90mn new passenger car registrations in 2026. The German passenger car market is therefore not expected to recover significantly in 2026. This is due, among other things, to the overall economic weakness.