Strong increase of new car registrations in August, ahead of new emissions test

New car registrations in Germany increased significantly in August 2018 – 25 percent compared to the same month in 2017 – due to the introduction of the stricter Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) at the beginning of September, writes the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). The August result cannot be taken at face value because it was due to this one-off effect, said VDA head Bernhard Mattes. The share of petrol cars grew to 62 percent of all new registrations, while the share of diesel cars increased slightly to 33 percent and the share of purely electric cars grew to 0.8 percent, writes the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) in a separate press release.

Find the press release in German here and find the KBA press release in German here.