Almost 36,000 Plug-Ins Were Sold In Record-Setting July 2020
July was an absolute record of records in terms of plug-in electric car sales in Germany, fuelled by the generous incentives and higher availability of new models.
While the overall market went down by 5.4% year-over-year, the new passenger plug-in car registrations shot up by 289% year-over-year to 35,917!
For the very first time, more than one in ten new cars is a plug-in – the precise market share in July was 11.4%.
Plug-in hybrids are selling noticeably better than all-electric:
- BEVs: 16,798 – up 182% at ≈5.3% market share
- PHEVs: 19,119 – up 485% at ≈6.1% market share
- Total: 35,917 – up 289% at ≈11.4% market share

New registrations year-to-date:
- BEVs: 61,105 – up 65% at ≈4.0% market share
- PHEVs: 68,660 – up 247% at ≈4.5% market share
- Total: 129,765 – up 128% at ≈8.5% market share


The top-selling models were Renault ZOE (2,851 in July and 9,917 YTD) and Volkswagen e-Golf (2,633 in July and 9,953 YTD), but there were also other BEVs and PHEVs in four-digits, like: Mercedes-Benz A-Class PHEV (1,965), Ford Kuga PHEV (1,691), Hyundai Kona Electric (1,688), Volkswagen Passat GTE (1,431), Volkswagen e-up! (1,344) and smart fortwo EQ (1,209).
Volkswagen noted the most plug-in registrations – 5,630 (including 4,102 BEVs and 1,528 PHEVs). The second was surprisingly Mercedes-Benz – 4,922 (including 300 BEVs and 4,622 PHEVs). The third and fourth were: BMW – 3,708 (812 BEVs and 2,896 PHEVs) and Audi – 3,168 (697 BEVs and 2,471 PHEVs).
However, not all brands surged in July. For example, Tesla got 203 registrations (153 Model 3, 27 Model X and 22 Model S), Nissan noted 304, Mitsubishi has remained at its typical level (597).
Official stats:
