September 2026: Electric cars far surpass gasoline vehicles

In September 2026, 88,599 electric vehicles were newly registered, accounting for 34.5 percent of the market. Gas-powered cars dropped by 29.2 percent to 17.4 percent, while Tesla and BYD saw the strongest growth among imported brands.

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The German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has released the registration figures for September 2026. During that month, 256,774 new passenger cars hit the roads in Germany, which is 9.0 percent more than in September of the previous year. Private customers drove much of this growth: private vehicle registrations increased by 28.5 percent and accounted for 40.3 percent of the total market. In contrast, commercial vehicle registrations declined slightly by 1.2 percent.

Powertrains: Electric Vehicles Far Ahead of Gas Cars

September was a strong month for electric vehicles. With 88,599 new registrations, battery-electric vehicles (BEV) accounted for 34.5 percent of the market share — meaning more than one in three new cars were fully electric. The KBA does not provide a change rate compared to the previous year’s month for this powertrain type in its report.

The largest group was still made up of vehicles with hybrid powertrains. 98,871 new cars (+1.7 percent) fell into this category, accounting for 38.5 percent of the total. Of these, 27,861 were plug-in hybrids, whose number remained exactly at the previous year’s level and represented 10.8 percent of the total. Excluding plug-in hybrids, full hybrids and mild hybrids totaled around 71,000 vehicles, accounting for nearly 27.7 percent. Combined, vehicles with plug-ins—i.e., BEVs and plug-in hybrids—amounted to about 116,500 units, representing roughly 45.4 percent of all new car registrations.

The pure internal combustion engines showed a significant decline. There were 44,632 new registrations for gasoline vehicles, a 29.2 percent drop compared to the previous month. Their share fell to 17.4 percent, roughly half that of electric vehicles. For diesel cars, 23,058 units were registered (-20.1 percent), accounting for a 9.0 percent share. Together, gasoline and diesel vehicles now represent just over a quarter of the market. Vehicle fuel cells remain a niche market: 1,602 vehicles powered by liquid gas were newly registered, an increase of 79.8 percent, with a share of 0.6 percent.

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Brands: Tesla and BYD experience strong growth

Imported brands

Among imported brands with over 4,000 new registrations, Tesla recorded the strongest growth at 268.7 percent. The U.S.-based manufacturer held a 4.9 percent market share. Following closely was BYD, with 85.6 percent growth and a 2.4 percent share. MG Roewe also saw significant growth at +60.8 percent, reaching a 1.6 percent share. Other brands that improved their performance included Mazda (+32.0 percent), Dacia (+25.7 percent), Renault (+20.9 percent), Kia (+17.6 percent), Fiat (+9.4 percent), Peugeot (+8.5 percent), and Skoda (+5.4 percent). Skoda remained the leading imported brand with a 7.7 percent share.

Toyota (-24.2 percent), Hyundai (-6.8 percent), Citroën (-2.4 percent), and Seat (-0.4 percent) all experienced declines.

German Brands

German brands showed mixed performance. Smart recorded the highest percentage growth at 138.0 percent, though it remained at a low level with a market share of 0.4 percent. Mini saw an increase of 34.1 percent, reaching a market share of 1.6 percent. Slight growth was also reported by MAN (+9.8 percent), Mercedes (+6.2 percent/8.4 percent), Opel (+6.0 percent/5.1 percent), and Audi (+4.0 percent/6.4 percent).

Porsche (-18.8 percent), Ford (-13.4 percent), VW (-6.1 percent), and BMW (-2.4 percent/7.4 percent) stayed below last year’s levels. Despite the decline, VW remained the most dominant brand in the German market with a 16.5 percent share.

Segments: SUVs continue to dominate

SUVs continued to strengthen their position. This segment grew by 28.5 percent, reaching a share of 39.6 percent. The mid-size segment also saw significant growth at 26.0 percent, accounting for 9.2 percent of the market. Double-digit increases were recorded in compact cars (+13.2 percent/14.0 percent), minivans (+12.5 percent), and utility vehicles (+10.0 percent). The upper mid-size segment grew by 7.3 percent.

In contrast, sports cars declined by 34.7 percent, recreational vehicles dropped by 29.8 percent, the compact class fell by 21.6 percent/12.0 percent, mini-vans decreased by 20.0 percent, the luxury class dropped by 10.4 percent, large vans declined by 9.1 percent, and SUVs saw a decline of 7.1 percent.

Vehicles for Commercial Use, Motorcycles, and the Used Car Market

In the commercial vehicle sector, new registrations of tractors increased by 1.6 percent, while those of semi-trucks rose by 8.5 percent. Bus registrations grew by 1.5 percent, and other motor vehicles saw a rise of 12.6 percent. Motorcycles recorded an increase of 17.9 percent. Overall, 306,292 motor vehicles (+8.1 percent) and 20,215 trailers (-10.2 percent) were newly registered in September.

In the used car market, the number of ownership transfers decreased across all vehicle categories. A total of 620,366 motor vehicles changed hands, 4.9 percent fewer than in September 2025. For trailers, there were 36,195 transfers (-4.5 percent).