Industry: Germany to register 693,000 fully electric cars in 2026

Germany is expected to register around 693,000 new battery electric vehicles (BEVs) next year, the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) said on Monday.

This would represent an increase of roughly 30% compared with projected 2025 figures.

Including other alternative drivetrains such as plug-in hybrids, the VDA expects nearly 1 million new registrations of vehicles with electrically assisted powertrains.

Registrations of new plug-in hybrids are expected to fall slightly, by about 5% to 286,000 vehicles.

The forecast for fully electric cars is slightly below that of the Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, which anticipates around 740,000 new BEVs next year – assuming the government’s planned incentives for private EV buyers come into effect. The VDA said the same condition applies to its own estimates.

For the overall market, the VDA expects only a modest recovery. Total new passenger car registrations across all powertrain types are projected at 2.9 million next year, a rise of about 2% from 2025. This remains well below the pre-pandemic record year of 2019, when new registrations stood at about 3.6 million.