VDA: Production and market in November 2024: E-car production in Germany with new record month

In November, domestic car production reached 404,800 units. That was 1% more than in the same month last year. In the first eleven months, production also rose by 1% compared to the same period last year, to just under 3.9mn cars. However, compared to the pre-crisis year of 2019, production in the first eleven months of the current year is 12% lower than that year.

The detailed production data for the month of October is now available, broken down by drive type. It shows that more electric cars were produced in Germany in October than in any previous month. In the new record month, 143,200 electric cars were manufactured in Germany, 38% more than in the same month last year. 109,400 BEVs and 33,800 PHEVs rolled off the assembly lines at production facilities in Germany. This means that BEV production increased by 54% compared to the same month last year, and PHEV production by 4%. The share of electric vehicles in total production was 38% in October, also higher than ever before. Overall, 5% more electric cars have been produced in the first eleven months of this year than in the previous year (1.1mn units).

Exports also rose slightly in November: 300,900 brand-new cars were exported from production facilities in Germany, an increase of 2% compared to the same month last year. Looking at the development since the beginning of the year, there has been an increase of 3% to 3.0mn cars delivered to customers all over the world. However, after the first eleven months of the year, exports are still 9% below the pre-crisis level of 2019.

Compared to the same month last year, 4% more domestic orders were registered in November of this year. In the first eleven months, domestic orders increased by 10% compared to the same period last year. In contrast, the higher-volume foreign order intake in November was 5% below the previous year’s level. So far this year, it has increased by almost 1% compared to the same period last year. Overall, almost 2% more orders were registered in the first eleven months of this year than in the same period last year.

In November, new registrations on the German passenger car market were almost at the same level as the same month last year, with 244,500 units. From January to November, German registration offices registered a total of 2.6mn vehicles. Over the current year, the German passenger car market is therefore still at the same level as last year (±0%). The VDA therefore sees its forecast of 2.8mn cars for the German passenger car market made at the beginning of the year confirmed. The comparison with pre-crisis levels, however, is still clearly negative: The German passenger car market is currently 22% below the volume of 2019 (January til November).

Sales of purely battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) were again below the previous year’s figures in November: 35,170 newly registered units correspond to a decrease of 22% compared to the same month last year. Meanwhile, the market for plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) continued to recover in the past month: 20,600 PHEVs were newly registered in November 2024, 14% more than in November 2023. The electric market as a whole fell by 12% to a level of 55,790 vehicles in the past month. A look at the year so far shows that while BEVs fell by a total of 26% in the first eleven months compared to the same period last year, the PHEV market grew by 9%. These contradictory developments resulted in an overall decline in the electric market of 17% to around 520,000 units from January to (end of) November.

Passenger Cars *)

SOURCE: VDA