Weak EV sales in Germany put carmakers under pressure

FRANKFURT

Electric car sales in Germany remained weak in November, official data showed, putting the embattled country's auto industry under further pressure.

Electric vehicle (EV) registrations rose 58.5 percent year-on-year in November, the KBA federal transport authority said, making up 22.2 percent of new cars sold.

But the rise was largely down to comparison with a low base, with sales plunging last year following the withdrawal of government subsidies for EVs.

"The strong growth in the EV market is only making up for the slump seen in 2024," EY analyst Constantin Gall said.

"The hoped-for boom of e-mobility in Germany is still not in sight."

Europe's carmakers desperately need rising EV sales, both to see a return on their investment into the technology as well as to comply with EU rules forcing them to ramp up EV production.

But demand has not taken off as quickly as hoped, leading to calls for the EU to scrap a planned ban on combustion engine cars by 2035 and soften regulations that mandate fines for carmakers that sell too many polluting cars.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz last week demanded the EU reconsider while ally Markus Soeder said the government would introduce new EV- and hybrid-subsidies.

But Imelda Labbe, head of the VDIk foreign carmakers' lobby in Germany, told AFP that more needed to be done on charging infrastructure for sales to really take off.

New registrations of cars from all-electric Chinese brand BYD meanwhile rose 834 percent year-on-year, the data showed, giving it about a seven percent share of Germany's EV car market.