New record high: More than one in three new cars is an electric vehicle
In September, 34.5 percent of all new passenger car registrations in Germany were electric vehicles, meaning more than one out of every three new cars. This sets a new record compared to other types of propulsion systems. At the same time, new electric vehicle registrations increased by around 95 percent compared to the previous month.
Specifically, the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) reported that exactly 88,599 new electric vehicles were registered in Germany in September 2026. This represents nearly 95 percent more than the 45,495 units registered in the previous month. It also represents a 28.5 percent increase compared to the 68,930 new electric vehicles registered in August 2026. Additionally, 604,144 new electric vehicles have been registered since the beginning of the year, marking a 58.1 percent increase.
The market share across all propulsion types rose further to 34.5 percent in September due to strong sales growth. This figure is 2.1 percentage points higher than the previous record of 32.4 percent in August, setting a new high. It is also 15.2 percentage points higher than the 19.3 percent market share from a year earlier. Thus, the trend for electric vehicle market shares is clearly upward.
Electric Vehicle Sales Benefit from Government Incentives
Experts attribute this strong growth primarily to the federal government’s electric vehicle incentives launched in May, which offer subsidies of up to 6,000 euros for purchasing a new electric vehicle depending on household income and the number of children. The program has just surpassed 100,000 approved applications.
Bundesumweltminister Carsten Schneider (SPD) says, “What’s especially important to me is that the social gradient works. Finally, households that couldn’t afford an electric car before can now do so, thanks in part to the leasing option. Additionally, small cars made by German manufacturers are finally hitting the market.” Auto expert Constantin Gall from consulting firm EY adds, “The electric car subsidy is effective, and quite so.” However, he also believes the boom has come at a high cost through taxpayer money—and a decline is likely once the funding runs out. The federal government has projected around 800,000 new electric and plug-in hybrid cars.
A detailed breakdown of the 88,599 new electric vehicles from September by vehicle model is not yet available. The KBA plans to provide this data by October 7, and we will then add it here to our eMobility dashboard.
For now, it can already be said that 40,627 of these vehicles, or 45.9 percent, belong to foreign brands. This is according to the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers (VDIK). Its president, Imelda Labbé, said, “Electrification has reached a new high at 34.5 percent. International manufacturers are a key driver of the current electric vehicle boom in Germany, accounting for 46 percent of the BEV market share. They have managed to more than double their BEV registrations, growing even faster than the overall market. It is particularly encouraging that this trend is increasingly driven by private customers.”
BYD, Leapmotor, Tesla, and Xpeng are growing strongly
What is already possible even without knowing the specific model figures: to filter out from the data on individual car brands those manufacturers that produce only electric vehicles. Tesla accounted for 12,552 units (+268.7 percent), Xpeng for 1,250 units (+418.7 percent), Smart for 1,071 units (+138 percent), Lucid for 26 units (+420 percent), and Zeekr, which launched in Germany this year, for 58 units.
BYD is also on a strong growth trajectory: The Chinese manufacturer, which initially entered the German market as a pure electric vehicle brand, has seen over 60 percent of its sales in Germany come from plug-in hybrids since the beginning of this year. In a separate press release, it stated that the BYD Seal U DM-i achieved more than 1,800 new registrations in September and is the best-selling plug-in hybrid in Germany so far this year. Overall, BYD has recorded 6,040 new registrations, including both BEVs and PHEVs, with the KBA planning to break down these figures by specific models in two days. This gives BYD a 2.4 percent market share of total passenger car sales in Germany.
The China-based brand Leapmotor, supported by Stellantis, is also on a strong growth trajectory. It should be noted that the 2,652 new registrations consist of a mix of all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids with range extenders. This represents a 191.4 percent increase compared to September 2025, and the brand currently holds a 1 percent market share in Germany across all vehicle types.
In conclusion, here is an overview of the other types of propulsion systems: Overall, Germany’s passenger car market grew by 9 percent compared to the previous month, reaching 256,774 new registrations. Of these, 98,871 cars were equipped with hybrid propulsion (accounting for 38.5 percent of the market), including 27,861 plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), whose number remained at the same level as the previous month at 10.8 percent of the market share. Pure internal combustion engines, which are not hybridized at all, are becoming increasingly insignificant: the number of pure gasoline cars dropped by 29.2 percent to 44,632 units (17.4 percent of the market share). Meanwhile, new diesel cars decreased by 20.1 percent to 23,058 units. This also means that for the first time, more pure electric cars were registered in one month than gasoline and diesel cars combined.
