Dusseldorf In a stagnant market, electric cars are gaining more and more shares. 13.1 percent of all new registrations in Germany in the first two months of the year were electric. Overall, new registrations were roughly the same as the previous year: the Federal Motor Transport Authority has registered around 385,500 new registrations since the beginning of the year – around 0.2 percent more than in the previous year. In February, total registrations increased by 2.8 percent to around 206,200 new registrations.
In the case of sales of purely electric vehicles, on the other hand, the curve points clearly upwards in a year-on-year comparison. 32,475 purely electric vehicles were newly registered in February – 14.7 percent more than a year earlier.
Electrical sales initially collapsed significantly in January because the subsidy premiums fell at the turn of the year. In December, more than 100,000 pure electric vehicles were registered, in January only 18,100.
In a group comparison, US carmaker Tesla grew the most in Germany at the beginning of the year with 10,150 vehicles. The increase compared to the same period last year was 87.8 percent. Only one other group was able to sell more electric cars in Germany in absolute terms.
The brands of the VW Group had 15,385 new electric registrations in January and February. Compared to the beginning of 2022, this is an increase of 40.1 percent.
At Mercedes, too, new registrations increased by 6.5 percent compared to the same period last year with 5596 vehicles. After all, the Swabians are among the three companies with the most electrical approvals in Germany.
All other major car companies registered significantly fewer new electric cars at the beginning of 2023 than in the previous year. BMW comes to 3324 new registrations – a minus of 27.4 percent.
The situation is even worse for the major importers: Renault/Nissan electric models were registered 1,861 times (down 60.2 percent), Hyundai-Kia had 3,402 new registrations (down 43.6 percent), and the number at Stellantis was halved of new electric registrations to 4330 vehicles.
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Models such as the Fiat 500, which ended up in third place in Germany in 2022 as a whole, or the Opel Corsa-e fell behind at the beginning of the year or dropped out of the list of the ten best-selling models.
In any case, the top ten has changed significantly compared to the beginning of 2022. Only four models that ended up among the best-selling models in January of the previous year are also represented in 2023. Some long-standing bestsellers such as the Renault Zoe, the VW E-Up or the Hyundai Kona are losing importance.
These models took the top spots among e-cars in January and February 2023 – an overview:
10th place: Mini Cooper SE – 1363 new registrations (as of February 2023)*
The electric version of the Mini was recently revised optically.
(Photo: AP)
The electric Mini is back in the top ten. The little Brit with a price of 37,300 euros is not necessarily a bargain. But the model from the BMW empire is still a coveted small car because of its design and its electric version is also enjoying considerable success.
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Although the 2022 model got a facelift, it is technically a few years old. Still, the electric variant accounts for about a third of sales.
9th place: Skoda Enyaq – 1528 new registrations (as of February 2023)*
The Czechs’ first electric model is based on a good compromise between price and range.
(Photo: obs)
Customers sometimes had to wait a long time for the first electric model from the Czech VW sister company. But the buyers are apparently patient. At the beginning of the year, almost as many Enyaqs were registered as in the previous year.
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With a price of around 42,000 euros and a range of up to 536 kilometers, the Czechs are quite successful in occupying the electric middle class. However, other models from the VW Group were even more successful.
8th place: Fiat 500 – 1559 new registrations
So far, the Fiat 500 has had a weak start to the year.
(Photo: imago images/TT)
The electric Fiat 500 was still the third most popular electric car among Germans in 2022. But the year got off to a difficult start for the little Italian. The new edition of the design classic was hardly registered in January, in February things went a little better with 1183 new registrations. However, the small Stromer from Italy was registered much more frequently in the first two months of the previous year.
Every third Fiat 500 newly registered in Germany in 2023 is electric – although this variant is significantly more expensive. For the Franco-Italian group Stellantis, the Fiat 500 is the only model in the German top ten.
7th place: Smart Fortwo – 1560 new registrations
The electric variant of the small car Smart is one of the ten most popular electric cars in Germany.
While many old acquaintances have said goodbye to the top ten, the electric Smart is making a surprising comeback at the start of 2023. The micro car, which is now being built with Chinese help, celebrated its comeback among the bestsellers in January after months – and stayed there with 840 new registrations in February.
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This means that the Smart remains the best-selling small electric car – with exactly one registered vehicle ahead of the Fiat 500. That is likely to change in the course of the year: Because Smart is no longer focusing on small electric cars, but on the #1 compact SUV.
6th place: Tesla Model 3 – 1628 new registrations
The mid-size sedan got off to a slow start in Germany.
(Photo: Reuters)
The middle-class model from Tesla also got off to a comparatively weak start in 2023. At the same time in 2022, 800 more copies of the model had already been registered with the KBA. But Tesla is currently concentrating mainly on the sister model Model Y.
With 1239 new registrations, the mass model of the American electric car manufacturer is at least a little stronger in February. And thanks to the latest price cuts, the number of registrations is likely to jump back up significantly in the coming months.
5th place: Audi Q4 – 1953 new registrations
The electric mid-range model from Audi also made it into the top ten electric cars with the most registrations in Germany.
The premium brother of the VW ID.4 made it into the top ten electric cars with the most registrations in Germany for the first time in January and even managed to increase this again in February. Overall, the group is now able to deliver its models more steadily, even if the Q4 is still one of the models with the longest waiting times on the market.
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The electric Audi SUV with a price starting at 51,900 euros is now significantly more expensive than the larger Tesla Model Y, with a range of around 350 kilometers.
4th place: Audi Q8 – 2474 new registrations
The large electric SUV from Audi got a new name in 2023.
Audi’s first all-electric car has a new name. The large E-SUV, which previously operated under the name E-Tron, will be called the Q8 in the future. With a list price of 83,500 euros, the customer does not get a purchase bonus here either.
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As one of the few models, the Q8 was registered twice as often at the beginning of the year as in the previous year. Hardly any other model from the VW Group was able to grow so strongly.
Expensive cars in particular seem to have been hit far less by the premium shock in January. The Audi leaves competitors such as the Mercedes EQC (509 new registrations) or the BMW iX (298 new registrations) far behind.
3rd place: VW ID.3 – 2703 new registrations
The electric compact model gets a facelift.
(Photo: imago images/Arnulf Hettrich)
The ID.3 from Wolfsburg should become the Gulf of electric mobility. So far it hasn’t worked properly. But in February, the model made a jump in the ranking. Because with 1898 new registrations, the electric compact model from VW was one of the most successful electric models on the German market.
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This should continue in the course of the year. The model recently received a facelift and should be available again in a basic version for less than 40,000 euros in the future. It is possible that the ID.3 can still meet the high expectations.
2nd place: VW ID.4/ID.5 – 3570 new registrations
After the ID.3, the SUV is the second car from Volkswagen that was designed exclusively as an electric vehicle.
(Photo: dpa)
In China, the medium-sized electric SUV was disappointing last year, and success in Europe was limited. The chip crisis recently burdened production so much that VW dealers could not sell as many vehicles as they wanted. At the beginning of the year, the mid-range SUV from Wolfsburg is one of the big winners in the electronics market. The model was registered 2099 times, significantly more frequently than in the previous year.
In the Wolfsburg brand realm, the ID.4 is the electric bestseller and one of the reasons why VW has remained the market leader for electric cars in its home market. However, another manufacturer secured the top spot in the model comparison.
1st place: Tesla Model Y – 10,150 new registrations
The crossover model will also be built in the new Gigafactory in Grünheide.
(Photo: AP)
The electric mid-range crossover is built in the Gigafactory near Berlin and was already the most popular electric car among Germans in 2022. For the new year, Tesla boss Elon Musk increased the pressure on the competition enormously. The prices for the entry-level version of the Model Y were recently reduced by 9100 euros. There were also very favorable leasing offers.
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This should make the Model Y one of the vehicles with the most registrations in Germany over the course of the year – despite falling premiums. In February, only the VW Golf was registered more frequently. In the first two months of the year, every fifth newly registered electric car in Germany was a Model Y.
* Source: Kraftfahrt–federal office
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