More than 80 percent of new cars in Germany have a combustion engine

Of the almost 370,000 new passenger cars registered in the Netherlands last year, 30.8 percent were fully electric. This means that 69.2 percent of all new cars registered in our country in 2023 had a combustion engine. Kraftfahrt-Budesamt – the German equivalent of the RDW – has mapped out what the German car market would look like in 2023. More new electric passenger cars were registered in Germany last year than in 2022, but more than 80 percent of the new cars registered last year still had a combustion engine under the hood.

2.84 million. This is how many new passenger cars and commercial vehicles were registered in Germany last year. That was 7.3 percent more than in 2022. 18.4 percent of all vehicles registered in Germany in 2023 had an electric drivetrain. This concerns 524,219 pieces. More than half a million, more than 11 percent more than in 2022. The fact that 18.4 percent of all new cars in Germany were EVs also means that 81.6 percent had a combustion engine. 34.4 percent of all new cars had a regular or mild-hybrid petrol engine. This concerns 978,660 cars, 13.3 percent more than in 2022. Just under 30 percent of all registered cars had a hybrid drivetrain: 840,304 in total. Of those, 175,724 were plug-ins. German interest in plug-in hybrids is declining considerably, with more than 175,000 units down by 51.5 percent compared to a year earlier.

In the Netherlands, the share of diesel cars in total registrations in 2023 was almost negligible at 1.1 percent. In Germany, diesel power is still one to be reckoned with. Last year, 486,581 diesel cars were registered in Germany, three percent more than in 2022 and good for a 17.1 percent share of the annual balance sheet. However, the share of diesel cars in the total market was 0.7 percentage points lower than in 2022. LPG cars accounted for a share of 0.5 percent in Germany. With 13,147 units, more than 12 percent fewer LPG cars were registered in 2023 than in 2022. The interest in cars that use natural gas/CNG also decreased by 28.1 percent. There will be 1,327 CNG cars registered in 2023.

German brands in the lead

The German car brands are traditionally very popular in their home country and this has not changed at all in 2023. Only Audi registered 246,880 cars in Germany last year and BMW registered 233,160 cars. Mercedes-Benz surpasses both brands and registered no fewer than 277,252 cars. Opel achieved 144,901 registrations. The VW brands Seat and Skoda certainly did well with 132,624 and 168,561 units respectively. Volkswagen is the absolute leader. The brand registered no less than 519,089 new passenger cars in 2023. Almost one and a half times as many cars as were registered in the Netherlands last year.

Most popular models in Germany – 2023

The Volkswagen Golf was by far the most popular model in Germany. Even more Golfs were registered than Fiats, a brand that is in the top 10 brands. By the way, the entire Top 3 is a Volkswagen party.

Most popular electric cars in Germany

Just like in the Netherlands, the Tesla Model Y was the most popular new electric car in Germany. 45,818 units have been registered. The Volkswagen ID4 and ID5 – which fall under one registration name in Germany – are at a considerable distance in second place with 36,535 units.