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September 2025
The German Automobile Association warns that manufacturers' self-registration is misleading the current e-car slump. Targeted incentives are also needed for private customers.
Despite rising new registrations of electric cars since January 2025, the mood in the automotive industry is subdued. What's the reason for this? According to the latest mid-year survey by the German Association of the Automotive Industry (ZDK) , car dealerships and automotive businesses are assessing their business situation, sales prospects, and order situation for electric vehicles with increasing skepticism: Demand from private customers has been shrinking for two years, while commercial registrations have stagnated, according to the ZDK. Only self-registrations by manufacturers and dealers are stimulating the registration statistics. This, the association criticizes, "doesn't create any real added value in the automotive market."
"The business situation of many car dealerships and automotive businesses is significantly more strained than the official registration statistics* suggest. The growing number of new BEV registrations masks the reality in the trade," explains Thomas Peckruhn (63), the new president of the ZDK. In reality, this is often the result of self-registrations by manufacturers and dealers, fleet sales, or tactical measures.
According to the ZDK economic survey, orders for battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids have lost momentum since the beginning of the year, both in the private and fleet sectors, despite rising first-time registrations. The association therefore describes the figures from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) as "overstated": In the first half of 2025, self-registrations of battery-electric vehicles by manufacturers and dealers more than doubled compared to the same period in 2023 – to 65.401 vehicles.
These are the figures from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA): According to the KBA , around 1,7 million passenger cars were newly registered in the first seven months of the year, almost one million of which were new cars. 56,7 percent of these were equipped with an alternative drive system. The number of new cars with alternative drive systems (electric, hybrid, plug-in hybrid , fuel cell, gas, hydrogen) exceeded the level of the same period last year by 24,9 percent. Source: KBA
Operations management
Mobility - Electric drives
Operations management
463.486 new cars, or 27,8 percent, were equipped with an electric drive (electric ( BEV )*, plug-in , fuel cell), which is 45,1 percent more than in the same period in 2024.
297.340 Electric (BEV)* Pkw were newly registered during the reporting period, 38,4 percent more than in the same period of the previous year. Their share was 17,8 percent.
* BEV = Battery Electric Vehicle , vehicles powered exclusively by electricity
Manufacturers' own registrations alone have quadrupled in two years. At the same time, the number of private new electric car registrations fell by nine percent to 82.294 vehicles. Even including the July figures, this picture would hardly change, according to the automotive trade association.
A comparison of cumulative registrations from January to July of 2023 and 2025 shows that commercial registrations of purely battery-electric vehicles shrank by 0,8 percent, excluding self-registrations by manufacturers and dealers. Private new registrations were 4,8 percent below the previous year's figure.
"This is a clear warning signal. Politicians aren't noticing this sales crisis because they're only looking at the development of official registration figures," says Peckruhn.
"If we want to permanently anchor electromobility in the market, we need targeted incentives now – especially for private customers. Super depreciation and higher list price rates for the reduced company car tax for electric vehicles only work for commercial registrations. Without new impetus, no turnaround will be achieved," warns the ZDK President.
Four out of five companies surveyed would rate the federal government's current measures to promote electromobility as inadequate. The larger the company, the more pronounced the criticism – especially those with large numbers of employees are calling for more decisive political action.
The association is calling for "broad-based support, particularly for private electric cars, that truly deserves the name." Specifically, it means reducing electricity taxes and grid charges for all consumers. "The coalition's current measures are inadequate and one-sidedly focused on high-priced electric company cars," says Peckruhn.
The ZDK president warns: "Our companies have been investing in training and equipment for e-mobility for over ten years. We will fall behind ecologically, technologically, and economically if this technology does not ramp up now."
Since the end of government subsidies for electric vehicles at the end of 2023, the market share of battery-electric vehicles has only increased slightly. This is not enough to achieve the transition to climate-neutral mobility. Peckruhn warns: "To achieve the CO fleet targets by 2035, we would already need around 100.000 additional new BEV registrations to achieve a market share of around 25 percent of new registrations. We are far from that."
Since the end of the traffic light coalition's funding, market penetration of electric vehicles has been slow.
For its semi-annual survey, the ZDK interviewed around 500 car dealerships and automotive workshops by July 2nd – from smaller businesses with up to 15 employees to medium-sized businesses (16 to 50) and larger companies with more than 50 employees. Fifty-four percent of larger companies are more pessimistic about the outlook until the end of the year – significantly more than among medium-sized (44 percent) and smaller companies (38 percent).
Looking ahead, smaller companies are ahead: 23 percent expect "better" or "rather better" sales development, followed by 19 percent of medium-sized and 17 percent of larger companies. Smaller companies tend to focus on the repair shop business, while for larger companies in the automotive industry, car sales are the driver of revenue and earnings.
Overall, 44 percent of the businesses surveyed have scaled back their sales expectations, and only 20 percent are more optimistic. "Many retailers are cautious about the coming months," concludes Thomas Peckruhn. "In particular, the ongoing political uncertainty regarding e-mobility, but also customer reluctance in economically uncertain times, is making itself felt."
New vehicle orders for gasoline and diesel models are stable. The range between positive and negative assessments is relatively constant – only in the commercial and fleet segments is a slight slowdown evident, according to the ZDK.
Source: ZDK
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