German car market: May drivers are e-cars and foreign business

A total of 230,600 passenger cars were newly registered in Germany last month, which was 37 percent up on May 2020. In all, 1.1 million cars have been registered since the beginning of this year. This equates to a 13 percent year-on-year rise. However, it is 27 percent down on the same period in 2019. So the German car market is still a long way below its level from before the coronavirus crisis.

New registrations of electric passenger cars rose by 338 percent in May, reaching 54,000 units. The proportion of e-cars within the whole market came to 23.4 percent, a new record for this year. New registrations of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) added 380 percent compared with last year, while new registrations of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) increased by 303 percent.

New orders from Germany were well up on last year’s figure, adding 59 percent. The year-to-date increase amounts to 17 percent. Foreign business currently also shows dynamic growth, with the German OEMs recording a 47 percent rise in orders from other countries in May. Since January, the number of foreign orders has grown by 37 percent.

Passenger car production at the German plants also rose in May, although here, too, the figure stayed well below the pre-crisis level. Last month production expanded by 58 percent. A total of 250,100 cars were built. In the first five months of 2021, accumulated production came to 1.5 million cars (+25 percent). Problems in the supply of semiconductors continue to hold back any stronger recovery in production. Exports also increased in May, with 177,700 passenger cars sold to destinations abroad (+75 percent). Since the beginning of the year, 1.1 million cars (+26 percent) have been delivered to customers all over the world.