Germany registered 2,857,591 new passenger cars in 2025 — up 1.4% year-on-year. Beneath that single number sits a clear structural shift: battery-electric cars (BEV) jumped 43.2% to a record 545,142 registrations, diesel fell to 13.8% share and petrol to 27.2%. Three numbers. What they mean for you is the rest of this report.

This report is built on the official Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA) Jahresbilanz of 6 January 2026 and on later KBA monthly figures up to September 2026, as reported by ADAC and the trade press. Where we cite a number, the source is named in the Sources section at the end. The figures are as of October 2026.

You get the brand-by-brand, segment-by-segment, powertrain-by-powertrain breakdown — plus what what the 2026 registration figures look like under the new EV subsidy. If you are weighing a Kaufentscheidung between a diesel, a petrol car, or a BEV in the next six months, this is the numerical backdrop to your decision. Read the segments relevant to your target; skim the rest.

Headline: what the 2025 Jahresbilanz actually says

According to the KBA press release of January 6, 2026, total new passenger car registrations in Germany in 2025 came in at 2,857,591 units — a +1.4% improvement on 2024's 2,817,331 and the third consecutive year above 2.8 million. Total motor vehicle registrations (all classes combined) went the other way: 3,410,587 new Kfz, down 2.4%. Passenger cars grew while the all-vehicle total fell.

The used-car layer sat above that new-car layer, as usual. KBA recorded 7,600,745 Halterwechsel (change-of-owner transactions) across all Kfz classes in 2025, +1.0% YoY. For passenger cars alone the figure was 6,512,427 (+0.5%) — roughly 2.3 transferred used Pkw for every new one registered.

The story sits inside the Antriebsarten split, not the headline. Benziner and Diesel combined took 41.0% of new registrations: petrol 27.2% (down from 35.2% in 2024) and diesel 13.8% (down from 17.2%). Hybrids — including PHEVs — occupied 39.5%. Pure electric took 19.1%.

New passenger car registrations by year: the five-year trend

Germany's Pkw-Neuzulassungen have sat inside a narrow band since 2021 — always between 2.6 and 2.9 million. The headline-level numbers:

YearNew Pkw RegistrationsYoY changeAvg CO₂ (g/km)
20212,622,132−10.1%—
20222,651,357+1.1%about 110
20232,844,609+7.3%about 115
20242,817,331−1.0%119.8
20252,857,591+1.4%105.8

Source: Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt Jahresbilanz releases, 2022–2026. CO₂ for 2024 and 2025 per KBA press release, January 6, 2026; 2022 and 2023 values rounded from KBA reporting.

The CO₂ column is where the 2025 Jahresbilanz tells a different story than the volume column. Average CO₂ emissions of new cars fell 11.7% year-on-year, from 119.8 g/km to 105.8 g/km (KBA, January 6, 2026). That reflects the electrification: 545,142 new BEVs and 311,398 new PHEVs replaced petrol and diesel volumes. Headline volume is flat; under the hood it is a different market than it was a few years ago.

Top German brands 2025: who won, who lost

Volkswagen was again the market leader, with 560,796 new registrations and a 19.6% Marktanteil — the largest single-brand share on the German passenger car market. Mercedes-Benz followed with 260,415 units (+1.0%, 9.1%) and BMW with 253,712 (+8.9%, 8.9%). Skoda took fourth place (226,472, +10.2%, 7.9%), ahead of Audi (205,862, +1.8%, 7.2%). Opel was the only brand in the top ten we list with a clear decline (−7.9%).

Brand2025 RegistrationsYoY changeShare
Volkswagen560,796+4.5%19.6%
Mercedes-Benz260,415+1.0%9.1%
BMW253,712+8.9%8.9%
Skoda226,472+10.2%7.9%
Audi205,862+1.8%7.2%
Seat162,566+6.7%5.7%
Opel136,189−7.9%4.8%
Ford108,299+8.8%3.8%
Hyundai93,839—3.3%
Toyota87,578—3.1%

Source: KBA press release 01/2026, January 6, 2026 (top-10 brands).

Import brands: how did Tesla, BYD, Skoda, and Seat perform?

Among the Importmarken, Skoda had the strongest year at 226,472 new registrations (+10.2%) and 7.9% market share, fourth overall in the 2025 Jahresbilanz. Seat followed with 162,566 units (+6.7%) and 5.7%.

Two import stories went the other way. Tesla recorded 19,390 new registrations in 2025 — down 48.4% versus 2024. BYD went the opposite direction: explosive growth from a small base, with 23,306 registrations over the full year (+706.2%) and a 0.8% share.

The 2026 inflection shows up in March: Tesla registered 9,252 cars in Germany (+315.1%), and 12,829 in Q1 2026 (KBA data as reported by electrive). Electrive attributes the jump to a €3,000 “Tesla Bonus” on the entry-level Model Y, alongside the federal subsidy.

How the KBA Jahresbilanz is compiled

The KBA Jahresbilanz is the authoritative annual count of new vehicle registrations in Germany. It publishes Neuzulassungen (new registrations); Halterwechsel (used-car transfers) are a separate count. It is the source nearly every other organisation cites, including ADAC, VDA and the trade press.

KEY GERMAN TERM

Pkw-Neuzulassungen — the new registrations of passenger cars (Personenkraftwagen) reported by the KBA each calendar month and consolidated in the January Jahresbilanz. Excludes motorcycles, commercial vehicles, and Halterwechsel (used-car ownership transfers). Reported by brand, by Antriebsart (powertrain) and by segment. Note that KBA counts registration events, not sales to end customers.

One methodological note matters for comparative analysis: gewerbliche Zulassungen (commercial/fleet registrations) made up 66.1% of total 2025 Pkw-Neuzulassungen, while private Zulassungen stood at 33.6%. Read ‘buyers bought X’ with that split in mind — most of what the German new car register records is a fleet manager, not a private family.

BEV registrations in 2025: what actually happened?

The BEV market in Germany spent 2024 in a trough following the end of the Umweltbonus for private buyers on 17 December 2023. 2025 recovered sharply. According to the KBA, 545,142 battery-electric cars reached first registration in 2025, +43.2% on 2024's 380,609 units, for a 19.1% share of new car registrations. PHEV volume hit 311,398 (+62.3%), share 10.9%. Combined electrified (BEV + PHEV) reached 856,540 units, up 49.6% YoY, for a 30.0% share.

Powertrain2025 volumeYoYAnteil
BEV545,142+43.2%19.1%
Hybrid (total)1,127,509+19.0%39.5%
— incl. Plug-in Hybride311,398+62.3%10.9%
Petrol777,641−21.6%27.2%
Diesel395,022−18.3%13.8%
LPG12,079−11.9%0.4%

Source: KBA press release 01/2026, January 6, 2026.

The back half of the year ran stronger than the annual average. The cumulative BEV share for January to November 2025 was 18.8% (490,368 units); against the full-year 19.1%, that implies roughly 54,800 BEVs of about 246,400 registrations in December, or about 22% (our derivation from KBA figures).

The Q1 2026 wave: what does the new EV subsidy mean in the raw numbers?

THE 2026 E-AUTO-PRÄMIE — INCOME-TESTED, FOR NEW CARS FIRST REGISTERED FROM 1 JANUARY 2026

The federal EV subsidy (E-Auto-Prämie) is income-tested. Eligible are households with taxable income of up to €80,000 (+€5,000 per child, for up to two children, so €90,000 at most). For a battery-electric car the base amount is €3,000, plus €1,000 if income is below €60,000, plus another €1,000 below €45,000, plus €500 per child (maximum two) — up to €6,000 in total. Plug-in hybrids and range extenders (EREV) get a base of €1,500 and up to €4,500, and must emit no more than 60 g CO₂/km or have at least 80 km electric range. A 36-month holding period applies. The budget is about €3 billion from the Klima- und Transformationsfonds. The application portal (BAFA / Förderzentrale) opened on 19 May 2026, and claims for cars registered earlier in 2026 are possible retroactively.

The numbers behind the subsidy: in March 2026 Germany registered 294,161 new Pkw (+16.0%), of which 70,663 were BEV (+66.2%), a 24.0% share. For the first time in a single month, BEV registrations exceeded petrol (70,663 versus 66,959). KBA data as reported by electrive describe March as the third-strongest BEV month ever by volume. For Q1 2026 as a whole: 699,404 Pkw, BEV 159,630 (+41.3%, 22.8% share); all electric drives including PHEV together reached 235,750 (33.7%).

The wave did not fade after the portal opened. In September 2026 KBA counted 256,774 new Pkw (+9%), of which 88,599 were BEV (roughly +95%), a 34.5% share, and average CO₂ was 82.7 g/km. According to ADAC, around 100,000 applicants had been paid out by autumn 2026. If you are timing a BEV purchase, check the latest KBA monthly release and the current subsidy conditions before you sign.

New passenger car sales by segment: SUV 33.3%, Kompaktklasse 16.7%

Segment in the KBA sense is defined by vehicle class (Fahrzeugklasse), not by price or brand tier. In the 2025 Jahresbilanz the top four segments captured 72.7% of total new Pkw volume.

Segment2025 shareYoY volume change
SUV33.3%+11.9%
Kompaktklasse16.7%−9.5%
Kleinwagen11.8%+0.1%
Geländewagen10.9%−2.3%
Obere Mittelklasse5.4%+37.3%
Utilities4.7%+15.3%

Source: KBA Jahresbilanz, January 6, 2026 (segment volumes).

Three takeaways sit in the segment table. First, SUVs lead by a wide margin: 33.3% share, with volume up 11.9%. Second, Kompaktklasse volume shrank by 9.5%; a plausible reading (our interpretation, not a KBA statement) is that buyers moved toward compact SUVs. Third, the Obere Mittelklasse posted the strongest growth in the table at +37.3%.

Top-selling modelle in Germany 2025: the Golf, still

The Volkswagen Golf was the best-selling car in Germany in 2025 with 85,023 registrations (KBA model-level data). The VW T-Roc took second, the VW Tiguan third and the Opel Corsa fourth. On the BEV list alone, the VW ID.7 was the most-registered electric car with 34,563 units, followed by the VW ID.3 (31,938) and the VW ID.4 and ID.5 together (26,550), per electrive citing KBA data.

The ID.7 — a larger and more expensive Mittelklasse sedan and estate — outsold the smaller ID.3. For context on company-car buyers: the monthly taxable benefit for a BEV is 0.25% of the gross list price, applied up to a list-price cap that was €70,000 until mid-2025 and €100,000 from July 2025.

TIP

If you are tracking which models to consider on the used market a year or two from now, watch the 2025 top BEV list. Germany's used-car volume runs roughly 2.3× new volume, so the VW ID.7, ID.3 and ID.4/ID.5 first registered in 2025 will make up a large part of the future used-BEV supply. Check residual values against the Schwacke list (see our Schwacke guide) before you bid.

Three-year trend: 2023, 2024, 2025 compared

A short history check. In 2023 the German new car market registered roughly 2.84 million Pkw-Neuzulassungen (+7.3%). 2024 slipped to 2.82 million (−1.0%); the end of the Umweltbonus in December 2023 is the obvious backdrop for the BEV dip that year (our interpretation). 2025 climbed to 2.86 million (+1.4%). Across the three years the headline volume moved by less than two percent; the composition moved dramatically.

Metric202320242025
Total Pkw-Neuzulassungen~2,844,6002,817,3312,857,591
BEV share18.4%13.5%19.1%
Petrol share—35.2%27.2%
Diesel share—17.2%13.8%
Avg CO₂ of new cars (g/km)about 115119.8105.8

Source: KBA Jahresbilanz press releases for 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The CO₂ line is the most instructive. Average emissions of new cars rose in 2024, when BEV share fell back, and dropped sharply in 2025 when BEV share recovered. This is our interpretation, but the direction is consistent: less BEV share, more CO₂; more BEV share, less CO₂. The 2026 federal incentive aims at the same effect.

Passenger car Bestand: the 49.5 million on the road

As of 1 January 2026, the KBA Bestand for passenger cars in Deutschland stood at 49,486,487 — an increase of 0.3% over the prior year. The Durchschnittsalter of cars on German roads reached 10.9 years (10.6 a year earlier).

The Bestand shifts slowly compared with new registrations. On 1 January 2026 it contained 2,034,260 BEVs (4.1%) and 4,362,563 hybrids (8.8%), so petrol and diesel cars still made up about 87%. Even with BEVs taking 19% and more of new sales, the parc-level share will take years to rebalance. If you are buying used, this is your structural reason: used-ICE supply will remain abundant for years.

Why do the 2025 numbers look so much better than the 2024 numbers?

Reading the 2024 vs 2025 year-on-year deltas without context makes the BEV growth look larger than the underlying shift. 2024 was a depressed year for BEVs after the Umweltbonus for private buyers ended on 17 December 2023, so the +43.2% in 2025 is measured against a low base (380,609 units). The figure is real for registration-count purposes and is what the KBA reports; just keep the base effect in mind whenever you compare single years.

The same applies to 2026. BEV registrations in January and February 2025 held a 17.1% share, so the +41.3% growth in Q1 2026 is measured against a modest base, on top of the subsidy.

What the auto market data does not show

LIMITS OF THE DATA

KBA data is exhaustive on registration events and spartan on everything else. Three things the Jahresbilanz cannot tell you: how long cars sit at dealer lots before registration, what discount off list price was actually paid, and how much of the volume consists of self-registrations (Tageszulassungen and Eigenzulassungen) booked as ‘new’ but functionally already used. Dataforce, cited by electrive, reports that manufacturer self-registrations rose 68% for BEVs and 23% across all drive types in 2025, and that dealer and manufacturer registrations together made up about 25.7% of all registrations in the first half of 2025. Pre-registrations are a legitimate channel, but it is information the headline number hides: the KBA figure is an event count, not a consumer purchase count.

What buyers should watch through the rest of 2026

WARNING

The subsidy is income-tested and has conditions: a 36-month holding period and, for plug-in hybrids, the CO₂ or electric-range requirement. The programme is run by the federal environment ministry (BMUKN) together with BAFA. The portal has been open since 19 May 2026 and retroactive claims for cars registered from 1 January 2026 are possible. Keep the registration documents and the invoice in order, and check the current conditions on the official portal before you buy.

Your parallel watchpoint: Euro 6e-bis applies to all new passenger car registrations from 1 January 2026 (for new type approvals it has applied since 1 January 2025). The emission limits are unchanged; the real-driving test conditions are widened. For used-car buyers, Umweltzone access depends on the sticker (Feinstaubplakette) a car carries, not directly on its Euro norm.

How does Germany compare to other European Union countries?

Germany is the largest passenger car market in the European Union by volume, with 2.86 million Pkw-Neuzulassungen in 2025. Across the EU, ACEA reports registrations up 1.8% in 2025, with 1,880,370 battery-electric cars, a 17.4% share of the EU-27 market. Germany's 19.1% BEV share was above that EU average, and its BEV registrations grew 43.2%.

Is the German car market growing or shrinking?

Short answer: growing slowly in volume, shifting fast in composition. The +1.4% 2025 volume increase is a slight positive, inside a flat multi-year band. German car production tells a similar story: according to the VDA, Germany produced about 4.15 million cars in 2025 (+2%), still 11% below 2019, though a record 1.67 million of them were electric (+23%).

The 2026 months so far point upward. Q1 2026 registrations were 699,404 Pkw, March rose 16.0% and September 2026 rose about 9% to 256,774, with BEV share at 34.5%. Pick the market picture that matches your purchase timing and check the latest KBA monthly release.

Monthly cadence 2025: where the year went

Monthly registrations did not distribute evenly. December 2025 registered 246,439 Pkw (+9.7%) at a BEV share of about 22% (derived). The cumulative BEV share for January to November 2025 was 18.8%, so the year ended stronger than it began.

In 2026 the monthly series moved further: March saw 70,663 BEV registrations (24.0% share) and, for the first time in a single month, more BEVs than petrol cars; September 2026 reached a 34.5% BEV share.

The hybrid sleeper: what the PHEV +62% growth tells us

Headlines in early 2026 focused on BEVs. The larger growth story inside the electrification column was plug-in hybrid, which went from about 191,900 new registrations in 2024 to 311,398 in 2025 — a 62.3% increase, against the BEV 43.2% increase. PHEVs ended 2025 at 10.9% share, up from about 6.8%.

Company-car taxation is part of the context. The monthly taxable benefit is 1% of the list price for combustion cars, 0.5% for plug-in hybrids that have at least 80 km electric range or emit no more than 50 g CO₂/km (a rule tightened on 1 January 2025), and 0.25% for BEVs with a gross list price up to €100,000 (from July 2025). The 2026 incentive covers plug-in hybrids and range extenders at up to €4,500, against up to €6,000 for BEVs.

What this report means for the expat buyer

Four practical implications flow from the 2025 data and the 2026 trajectory — read them as if they applied to your own Kaufentscheidung.

First, the subsidy changes the BEV price comparison, but only if you qualify. It is income-tested (up to €6,000 for BEVs, less for higher incomes) and comes with a 36-month holding period. Run the numbers with your own household income; our TCO calculator helps. Second, used ICE supply will remain abundant: petrol and diesel still make up about 87% of the Bestand, and the shift trails new registrations by years. The used market is not a trap.

Third, the SUV tilt (33.3% of Pkw-Neuzulassungen) means larger cars are the default new option, while Kompaktklasse volume fell 9.5%. If you live centrally and your daily use is short trips in narrow streets, an older compact car can be the better fit than a new Kompakt-SUV.

Fourth, monthly registration figures move around subsidy news. March 2026 BEV registrations were up 66.2% on the year. If you are timing a BEV purchase, read the most recent KBA monthly release and the current subsidy rules first.

For the complete sequence of decisions around these market numbers — from import and registration through insurance, TÜV and total cost of ownership — see our expat buying guide. Read the market data to calibrate your timing; read your own circumstances to decide on the car itself.

Key takeaways

  • 2025: 2,857,591 new Pkw (+1.4%); BEV 545,142 (19.1%, +43.2%); petrol and diesel together 41.0%.
  • Top brands: VW 19.6%, Mercedes 9.1%, BMW 8.9%, Skoda 7.9%, Audi 7.2%. Golf was the best-selling model (85,023); ID.7 the top BEV (34,563).
  • Commercial registrations were 66.1% of the total, private 33.6%.
  • The 2026 E-Auto-Prämie is income-tested (up to €6,000 BEV, €4,500 PHEV/EREV); the portal has been open since 19 May 2026.
  • March 2026: first month with more BEV than petrol registrations. September 2026: BEV share 34.5%.
  • Fleet on 1 January 2026: 49,486,487 Pkw, average age 10.9 years, 4.1% BEV.

Sources and methodology

  • Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt, press release 01/2026 (Jahresbilanz 2025, 6 January 2026): kba.de
  • KBA monthly and Bestand figures as reported by electrive.net, elektroquatsch.de, ecomento.de and auto-motor-und-sport.de
  • ADAC, KBA registration news, September 2026: adac.de
  • Subsidy conditions: Verbraucherzentrale NRW (January 2026), BAFA / Förderzentrale announcements
  • ACEA full-year 2025 press release; VDA production figures; Dataforce via electrive.net (13 January 2026)

Methodology: KBA counts registration events (Neuzulassungen), not sales. Figures marked “derived” or “our interpretation” are our own calculations or readings of the KBA data.