Anyone who wants to buy a car currently needs a lot of staying power. Delivery problems continue to slow down sales. According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), 207,199 cars were newly registered in May, around ten percent less than in the same month last year. This is the second lowest sales level in May since German reunification, according to the business consultancy EY. Only in May 2020 was the number of new registrations even lower, when the lockdown in the corona pandemic had led to a slump in the new car market. New registrations were 38 percent below the pre-crisis level of 2019. Reason for the downward trend The global problems with supply chains are still there, said Reinhard Zirpel, President of the Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (VDIK). “At the same time, order backlogs are reaching a historic record level. This shows that customers want to buy cars, but the industry can only deliver to a limited extent.”
Sales of electric cars are also increasing significantly less than in previous years. After all, the number of new registrations in May still rose by almost nine percent compared to the same month last year. The market share of purely electric cars in new registrations was 13.3 percent in the first five months of the year, compared to 10.3 percent in the same period last year.
There is no improvement in sight for the second half of the year, EY said. The supply problems with raw materials and the lack of chips are still high on the agenda of the industry. People would have to be prepared for further price increases and very long delivery times. “The effects of new challenges – especially the lockdowns in China – will only reach Europe with a time lag and will lead to new impairments,” emphasized EY.
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Striking in May: market leader Tesla hardly delivers new cars in Germany. A total of just 293 cars of the brand were newly registered – in the same month last year there were 2744. Tesla is currently still heavily dependent on imports from China, although the Gigafactory in Grünheide recently started production.
Overview: The most popular electric cars in comparison
From a group perspective, Tesla fell to fourth place in the German electronics market over the course of the year with 15,351 new registrations, behind the VW Group (31,278 new registrations), Stellantis (23,131 new registrations) and Hyundai-Kia (15,967 new registrations).
However, some hopefuls are also disappointing this month: The VW ID.3 and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 do not appear in the top ten, just like the electric Mini or the Audi E-Tron. Mercedes is also not represented among the best-selling cars.
10th place: Smart Fortwo EQ – 4742 new registrations (as of May 2022)*
The small electric car from the Mercedes empire does not have it easy: the brand has been operating at a loss for years. Cooperation with Geely aims to change that. In addition to the small fortwo, the #1, a purely electric SUV, is also in the starting blocks.
With 1135 new registrations in May, the Smart just passed the electric competition. However, at the same time last year, more than twice as many electric Smarts were registered. The brand has lost a lot of shares in the electronics market.
9th place: Skoda Enyaq – 4796 new registrations
The electric crossover is in great demand. Because technically the model shares a platform with the more expensive VW ID.4 and ID.5. If you order a new electric Skoda today, you have to wait up to 18 months.
Due to ongoing delivery problems, the new registrations of the model also fluctuate extremely. With 1173 new registrations in May, the model slipped down one place in the ranking compared to the previous month.
Skoda Enyaq
The electric crossover model continues to hold its ground in the top ten.
(Photo: obs)
8th place: Renault Zoe – 4,974 new registrations
It was a difficult start to the year for the second small electric car. After the model was punished with disastrous zero stars by Euro NCAP at the end of 2021, new registrations lag behind the successes of previous years. Recently, Renault had also imposed an order freeze for the electric models.
That too is a setback: after all, the Zoe was still the most popular electric car in Germany in 2020. In the meantime, new registrations have recovered somewhat compared to the previous month. 839 copies of the French small car were newly registered in May, half as many as in the same month last year. For comparison: in the previous year, the number of new Zoe registrations up to May was 7071 vehicles.
Renault Zoe
In 2020, the French small car was still able to take the lead in new electric registrations.
(Photo: obs)
7th place: Opel Corsa-E – 5030 new registrations
The small Stromer, which is built in Zaragoza, was still number two among electric cars in Germany in January. In March, the model then flew out of the top ten due to persistent delivery problems. Now the electric Corsa is back – and how: With 1889 new registrations, it was the most popular electric car in Germany in May. Every fifth Corsa buyer opts for the electric version.
In the Stellantis Group, however, there is one model that sold better over the year as a whole.
Opel Corsa-e
The small Stromer from Rüsselsheim was the most popular electric car in Germany in May.
(Photo: imago images/Sebastian Geisler)
6th place: BMW i3 – 5181 new registrations
Since 2013, the group has sold almost a quarter of a million units of the electric car. In the future, BMW will rely on the electric Mini, the iX or the i4. Production of the electric bestseller is discontinued in June.
In the course of 2022, however, the i3 is still the most popular electric car from the brand and also leaves the fresh models behind. The BMW i3 was newly registered 451 times in May. The iX comes in behind with 311 new registrations. Compared to the previous year, registrations of the i3 increased by 8.2 percent. The last model year seems to be the most successful.
BMW i3
The small electric car is a discontinued model – but still very successful.
(Photo: dpa)
5th place: Tesla Model Y – 5314 new registrations
The mid-range crossover is now to be built in the Gigafactory that has just opened in Grünheide near Berlin. But either production there is very slow or the Model Y is initially exported to more lucrative markets than Germany. In any case, the majority of new Tesla registrations in this country are still being imported from China and the USA. Therefore, the registration numbers of Californians in Germany vary greatly.
In May, Tesla customers apparently waited largely in vain for their delivery. 112 new registrations were registered by the Federal Motor Transport Authority. After two months with four-digit new registrations at the beginning of the year, this is a significant decline. Other models are passing by.
Tesla Model Y
The crossover model will also be built in the new Gigafactory in Grünheide.
(Photo: AP)
4th place: VW ID.4 / ID.5 – 5618 new registrations
In China, the medium-sized electric SUV was disappointing last year, and success in Europe is currently still manageable. The chip crisis recently put such a strain on production that VW even had to impose an electrical quota on its dealers. Only large dealers will receive a significant number of electric cars for 2022.
In May, however, the model was one of the big winners on the market. 1,849 ID.4s registered in Germany, double the number in April. This made the mid-range SUV and the coupé-like offshoot ID.5 the Group’s most popular electric models in the first five months.
VW ID.4
After the ID.3, the SUV is the second car from Volkswagen that was designed exclusively as an electric vehicle.
(Photo: dpa)
3rd place: Hyundai Kona – 6345 new registrations
A Hyundai electric model leaves the ambitious VW competition far behind. The electric variant now accounts for more than half of the new compact SUV registrations. In 2021, the Koreans’ model was revised somewhat, but the technical basis comes from 2018. The Koreans are doing well on the German market.
In May, new registrations increased again slightly compared to the previous month. 1323 copies were newly registered. This puts the model in third place in an industry comparison.
Hyundai Kona Electric
Short delivery times, cheap leasing. This also makes the Kona interesting for many German drivers.
(Photo: Reuters)
2nd place: Fiat 500 – 8305 new registrations
The electric Fiat 500 can continue to hold its own at the top of new electric registrations. The new edition of the little Italian also did well in May. Almost every second Fiat 500 newly registered in Germany is electric.
In May, too, the model was newly registered 1,834 times – putting it just behind the Opel Corsa-e. However, another manufacturer is at the top of the ranking over the entire year 2022.
fiat 500
The small electric car from Italy is one of the most popular electric cars in Germany.
(Photo: Fiat)
1st place: Tesla Model 3 – 10,037 new registrations
Looking only at May, Tesla’s mid-range model would be miles away from the top ten. Only 181 new registrations were registered in Germany, compared to 9257 Model 3 in the same month last year. Compared to March, when Tesla could even announce 5516 new registrations, sales have plummeted.
Calculated over the year as a whole, the Model 3 remains the most popular electric car among Germans. But the Germans have caught up in the past two months in a segment that the Californians still dominate.
Tesla Model 3
In March, the Model 3 was registered significantly more frequently than all its competitors and is the leader in the ranking.
(Photo: dpa)
*Status: May 2022, source: Federal Motor Transport Authority
More: No Tesla, lots of VW – these ten car models were particularly in demand in 2021