Sales of electric vehicles in Germany were narrowly eclipsed by diesel car sales, a clear sign that battery electric cars continue to gain ground over legacy combustion engine cars. Germany represents the fifth largest car market in Europe, the market share for electric cars surged to 17.7 percent in 2021. By comparison, the market share of diesel car sales remained somewhat stable at 17.8 percent.

Sales of gasoline/petrol cars remain buoyant in Germany retaining the largest market share of 32.6 percent. New registrations for Tesla grew by 76 percent, however, Volvo Polestar experienced a spike in demand with sales up by 166 percent.

Despite a 1.8 percent drop in new car sales, VW was Germany’s best-selling brand in 2021. Mercedes Benz climbed to second with an 8.3 percent increase in demand and Audi rallied to third with a 17 percent increase in new car sales.

BMW dropped to fourth position with a decline of 5.7 percent. Electric cars are still a premium product due to the use of rare earth materials and the relatively new technologies contained within.

Electric vehicles have an achilles heel, that being the charging infrastructure is dysfunctional at the moment, the exception being Tesla. However, Germany is revealing that a great convergence is beginning to occur in the auto industry.

It is easy to deduce the current state of Germany’s diesel market share will be consumed by another surge of increased demand for electric cars. When that occurs it is only a matter of time before sales of gasoline/petrol cars will be fighting for awareness.