The German car market fell again in August, weighed down by the collapse in sales of electric cars. This was the second consecutive month of decline after a 2.1% drop in July.
A total of 197,322 cars were registered in Germany in August, 27.8 percent fewer than the previous year, the Federal Motor Vehicle Agency (KBA) announced in a press release on Wednesday.
The electric market plummeted by 68.8% to 27,024 units and a market share of 13.7%. The end of purchase aid from 1 January has led to a dramatic drop in electric car sales across the Rhine.
A balanced market for all engines combined
Other engine types also recorded a more limited decline in August: -1.5% for mild and non-rechargeable hybrids, -6.8% for plug-in hybrids and -7.4% for petrol engines. Diesel alone also showed a double-digit decline, -24.4%, but with a market share of 15.2% last month. In France, diesel registrations since the beginning of the year only represent 7.8% of the market.
Despite this context regarding electric vehicles, the German market remains almost balanced: from January to August, new car registrations registered a decrease of only 0.3%, to 1.907 million units.
In difficulties, Volkswagen mentioned this week Possible factory closures in Germany.Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume cited in particular “the difficult economic environment, increased competition in Europe and the loss of competitiveness of the German economy” to justify This acceleration of the cost-cutting policy announced at the beginning of August.
Source: BFM TV
