Tesla factory in Grünheide
With overall sales falling, the proportion of cars with alternative drive systems rose by eleven to 45 percent in Germany by the end of September.
(Photo: via REUTERS)
The US carmaker Tesla has left Volkswagen as the market leader for electric cars in Germany. From January to September, Tesla sold 38,458 cars, while the second-place Volkswagen brand suffered a slump to 32,326, according to statistics released by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) on Tuesday.
Compared to the same period last year, Tesla achieved an increase of 48 percent in the still small but strongly growing segment of pure electric cars. Volkswagen lost around 40 percent. As in the previous year, the third largest electric car brand was the Korean manufacturer Hyundai with almost 21,000 new vehicles.
The German premium manufacturers Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz as well as Opel increased their e-car sales in their home market, but with quantities between 16,000 and 18,000 they are still far behind Tesla.
The VW subsidiary Audi and BMW significantly increased their share of e-cars in domestic sales to 11.8 and 10.6 percent. At Mercedes-Benz, the share increased to 8.8 percent. The sports car manufacturer Porsche, which only has one e-car on offer, sold 2,855 fewer units than in the previous year.
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With total sales falling significantly, the proportion of cars with alternative drive systems in Germany rose by eleven to 45 percent by the end of September. New battery-electric vehicles (BEV) were in greater demand than plug-in hybrids, in which the electric motor complements the combustion engine. BEVs accounted for 14.6 percent of all car sales, their share thus increasing by almost a quarter.
More: Why the car manufacturer is not yet building battery cells in Grünheide