Number of registered cars in Germany reaches new record level but EV registrations slow down

The number of cars on German roads has reached a record high of 49.1 million at the start of 2024, according to a new report from the government’s statistical office Destatis. From January to August 2024, however, there were 0.3 percent fewer registrations of new cars than a year earlier. The report attributes this to the significant decrease in electric vehicle registrations (32 percent), which probably occurred due to the government stopping subsidies for their purchase. A ten-year comparison shows a significant increase in car density over time: in 2014, there were 543 cars per 1,000 inhabitants compared to 580 in 2024.

The city states of Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen had the lowest car density, which amongst other things is made possible by their comparatively well-developed public transport systems. Larger states in Germany – which can cover a large number of cities and rural municipalities – on average have a much higher car density. In Berlin, for example, there are 329 cars per 1,000 inhabitants, while there are 655 cars in Saarland for the same number of inhabitants. Registrations are unlikely to increase significantly during the remainder of the year, as a report by the Institute for Economic Research (ifo) found that car dealerships are struggling amidst low consumer confidence in a time of severely hampered economic growth in Germany.

Falling electric vehicle sales have led to a crisis in the German car industry and major companies and suppliers have announced job cuts. The German government aims to have 15 million electric passenger cars on the country’s roads by 2030 and wants one million charging points by that date. However, although the number of electric vehicle charging points continues to grow, the existing charging infrastructure is not well utilised, industry and environmental groups have criticised.