Half-yearly result: e-vehicles break through the 1 million mark

A total of 274,150 passenger cars were newly registered in Germany in June. That was 24 percent more than in the same month last year. In the first half of 2021, approx. 1.4 million cars were newly registered, which was 15 percent up on last year’s figure, but around 25 percent down on the same period in 2019. This means that the German passenger car market is still a long way from its pre-crisis level.

New registrations of electric cars rose by 243 percent in June to 64,760 units. This takes the total number of new electric vehicles in Germany to over 1 million. The proportion of e-passenger cars on the market as a whole rose to 23.6 percent, thus setting a new record for this year. New registrations of battery-electric cars (BEVs) added 312 percent, while new registrations of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) increased by 191 percent.

“More than one million e-cars – that’s a great achievement in the transformation of the automotive industry. With their advanced technology and attractive models, the German manufacturers are major players in the boom in e-mobility. However, the charging infrastructure has to catch up. Germany needs to have over one million charging points for electric cars and vans by 2030, and that will require much greater effort,” said VDA President Hildegard Müller, commenting on the latest figures.

Passenger car production has remained far below expectations in recent months. The VDA has reduced its production forecast to 3.6 million (+3 percent). Until now it had been expecting a rise of 13% to 4 million cars.

New domestic orders last month showed a year-on-year fall of 2 percent. Yet the year-to-date result has climbed by 13 percent. Foreign business is currently more dynamic, with the German OEMs recording a 10 percent rise in their June orders. In the first half of this year, 32 percent more orders arrived from other countries.

Production at German automotive plants fell last month. In all, 247,400 passenger cars were built (-19 percent). Production during the first half-year amounted to 1.7 million cars (+16 percent). Shortages in the supply of semiconductors are still holding production back. Exports were also down in June, with 201,500 passenger cars sold to destinations abroad (-6 percent). This year so far, 1.3 million cars (+20 percent) have been delivered to customers around the world.