The German Passenger-Car Market in September: About 25% Fewer New Registrations in Comparison With September 2019

In September 2021, 197,000 passenger cars were newly registered in Germany – 26 percent fewer than in September 2020. During the first nine months of this year, 2.0 million new passenger-car registrations were recorded. This was one percent less than in September 2020 but a good 25% less than in September 2019.

In September new e-vehicle registrations climbed to 56,550 units– a gain of 37 percent over the same month in the year before. Electric passenger cars thus accounted for 28.7% of total new registrations. These results distinctly topped the previous highest value, which was recorded in August. New registrations of purely battery-electric passenger cars (BEV) rose by 59 percent, while those of plug-in hybrids (PHEV) climbed by 13 percent – in each case in comparison with Sept. 2020.

In September 2021 new domestic orders were 23 percent below the level of September 2020. Since the beginning of the year, however, orders have increased by 3 percent. Business with foreign customers also weakened in September; in this sector the German automakers recorded a drop in orders of 19 percent in comparison with the same month in the previous year. Since January, however, 12% more orders have been received from foreign customers than during the same period in the year before.

The production of the German automobile plants declined again in September. A total of 208,700 passenger cars were manufactured in September (-44 percent over September 2020). During the first nine months of the year, domestic production amounted to 2.3 million passenger cars (-3 percent in comparison with the same period of the year before). In the past month, bottlenecks affecting deliveries of semiconductors were again the decisive stumbling block in production. Exports also fell in September: 154,400 passenger cars (-43 percent over the same month in the previous year) were sold in foreign countries. During January to September 2021, barely 1.8 million passenger cars were delivered to customers all over the world  

( -1 percent in comparison with the same period in 2020).