Consumer demand for electric cars in Germany is weaker than headline figures imply, as dealers and manufacturers increasingly register vehicles themselves to meet targets and support sales statistics, the ZDK motor vehicle trade association said on Monday.
The group said self-registrations – vehicles registered by dealers or automakers rather than end customers – have risen sharply and now distort the appearance of market growth. “Nearly one in four newly registered cars in October was self-registered,” ZDK President Thomas Peckruhn said, calling the trend a warning sign. “This shows that the market’s growth is not currently driven by genuine customer demand, but is primarily being sustained by artificial stimuli from manufacturers and dealers,” he added.
Official data from Germany’s KBA transport authority showed registrations of fully electric vehicles rose about 39% year-on-year in the first ten months of 2025, making up roughly 18% of all new cars. However, the ZDK said self-registrations in the battery-electric segment climbed 51% over the same period, suggesting underlying consumer appetite is significantly softer than the headline growth rate indicates.
Industry groups VDA, representing domestic automakers, and VDIK, representing international brands, did not immediately comment on the ZDK data. Carmakers such as Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have been urging EU policymakers to ease the 2035 phase-out of new combustion-engine cars, citing slower-than-expected electric vehicle adoption and continued cost pressures in EV production.
Source: Reuters