EVs provide positivity in the German new-car market
10 March 2026
Electric vehicles (EVs) powered the German new-car market’s return to growth in February. What part did purchase incentives play in this development? Autovista24 editor Tom Geggus examines the numbers.
Germany’s new-car market recorded 211,262 registrations in February, up by 3.8% year on year, according to the KBA. This was a comeback from January’s 6.6% decline, but meant the market still fell in the year to date. At 405,243 units, registrations dropped by 1.4%.
EVs, including battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), have held the market up so far this year. Both powertrains experienced year-on-year growth acceleration last month, as internal-combustion engine (ICE) models continued to decline.
Incentives powering EV market?
With a combined total of 70,603 registrations in February, 27.3% more EVs took to German roads than 12 months prior. Plug-ins captured 33.4% of the entire new-car market, an increase of 6.1 percentage points (pp) compared with February 2025.
BEVs led in terms of volume and growth, with deliveries increasing by 28.7% to 46,275 units. This meant 21.9% of all new cars hitting German roads last month were all-electric, up by 4.2pp. PHEVs claimed nearly half this share at 11.5%, up by 1.9pp from February 2025. Registrations of the technology climbed by 24.5% to 24,328 units.
In the year to date, EVs represented a third of the German new-car market at 33.3%. This signalled a 7.1pp upswing for plug-ins, as deliveries grew by 25.4% to 135,085 units.
Purchase incentive puzzle
New purchase incentives were introduced at the start of the year, with retroactive applications eligible back to 1 January. Taxable household income and family size determine the amount of funding available for BEV, PHEV and extended-range electric vehicle purchases. Users will be able to apply for support online; however, the portal will not open until May.
‘The February figures show that the passenger-car market is picking up again, and demand for BEVs is showing clear growth impulses, even though the subsidy has not yet taken effect,’ explained ZDK president Thomas Peckruhn.
‘Customers are still asking who will ultimately receive the premium, whether they will have to advance the money themselves, and what documentation is required. As long as these questions remain unanswered, the subsidy cannot unfold its signalling effect in the market,’ he added.
So, incentives could have helped boost recent EV growth. Some consumers would have been able to cover the upfront costs and make a claim later, encouraging uptake. Meanwhile, those more reliant on the scheme may continue to wait until May, at which point the full effect will start to become more apparent.
Stagnant hybrid market
EVs were not the only powertrains to record growth last month. Hybrids, including full and mild variants, recorded a 4.1% year-on-year increase in registrations. With 60,510 units delivered, the technology accounted for 28.6% of all deliveries in the country.
While this was 5.7pp ahead of the next most popular powertrain, it was stagnant compared with February 2025’s result. Alongside a single-digit increase in registrations, this reveals an ongoing struggle for hybrids.
Combined with a fall in January this year, the powertrain managed a 1.1% increase in the year to date. Its market share only increased slightly from 28.6% 12 months ago to 29.3%.
Together, EVs and hybrids recorded 131,113 deliveries, up 15.4% year on year. This pushed the market share to 62.1%, up from 55.9% 12 months ago. In the year to date, this equated to a 62.6% share with registrations up 12.8% to 253,801.
Skating on thin ICE
ICE deliveries dropped by 10.4% in February, as 79,742 units hit the road. This meant the combined market share for petrol and diesel fell by 6.1pp to 37.7%. While petrol led this decline, its volume was still ahead of diesel.
With registrations down by 14.9%, 48,404 new petrol-powered passenger cars hit German roads. The fuel type accounted for 22.9% of all deliveries, down 5.1pp year on year.
Diesel’s market share suffered a shorter fall of 2.4% to 31,338 units. However, this followed continued declines in popularity as it took a share of 14.8%, down 1pp.
Following a far worse January, its drop was more severe in the year to date. Registrations declined by 9.9% to 58,647 units as its share reached 14.5%, down from the 15.8% hold recorded 12 months earlier.
Petrol was in the same boat, as its year-to-date performance cast a darker shadow than its monthly decline. Deliveries plummeted by 22.8% to 92,099 units, with its share hitting 22.7%, down from 29% a year ago.
This gave ICE a 37.2% market share after the first two months of 2026. Representing a loss of 7.6pp, this share effectively transferred to EVs. In total, 150,746 petrol and diesel passenger cars hit the country’s roads, down by 18.2% year on year.
VW commands German market
Volkswagen continued to command a leading share of the German new-car market in February. While claiming a market share of 19% with 40,174 registrations, this equated to a year-on-year delivery decline of 2.1%.
Audi and SEAT also saw deliveries decline, down 2.3% and 11.1% respectively. However, some brands within the VW Group managed to record registration growth, including Skoda and Porsche, up 26.5% and 10%, respectively.
Elsewhere, BMW was able to take market share of 8.1% as its registrations remained level compared to February 2025, growing by 0.3%. Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz saw a 9.9% drop in deliveries, putting it 0.1pp behind BMW.
Fiat and Opel had a far better month as their sales increased by 113.2% and 44.4% respectively. Hyundai also saw an increase, with deliveries up 16.2%, while Ford recorded a drop of 19.4%.
BYD enjoyed another month of comparatively high performance as its registrations grew by 1,550.3% year on year. With its 3,053 units, the brand was able to take the same market share as Mini at 1.4%. The BMW Group marque also saw an increase in deliveries, up 49.2%. Leapmotor also posted surging sales last month. Volumes were up 486.6% to 1,091 units.
