2025: High growth in alternative drive systems still not enough to meet CO2 fleet limits - VDIK - Verband der Internationalen Kraftfahrzeughersteller e.V.

In 2025 as a whole, the market for alternative drive systems (pure electric, plug-in and non-plug-in hybrids, and gas-powered vehicles) grew by 25.5 percent to 1,684,783 units, with international brands accounting for around 43.0 percent. This is according to an analysis of figures from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) by the Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (VDIK). The share of new registrations with alternative drive systems in the overall market rose to 59.0 percent last year, compared to 47.6 percent in 2024. In December 2025, 157,417 passenger cars with alternative drive systems were newly registered, around 26.6 percent more than in the same month of the previous year.

VDIK President Imelda Labbé: “New registrations for alternative drive systems rose significantly again in 2025. However, the share of battery electric vehicles remains slightly below forecasts. Despite the product offensive by international vehicle manufacturers and the growth in registrations of affordable BEVs and plug-in hybrids, the overall market share was not yet sufficient to meet the CO2 fleet limits. We therefore urgently need the promised subsidies from the federal government to be applied retroactively to January 1 for new and young used BEVs.”

New registrations of purely battery-electric passenger cars (BEVs) rose significantly by 43.2 percent to over 545,000 units in 2025. The share of BEVs in total new passenger car registrations was thus 19.1 percent for the year as a whole, which is 5.6 percentage points more than in 2024. International manufacturers increased their BEV registrations by 59.3 percent to 214,385 vehicles last year. This means that the BEV market share of international manufacturers since the beginning of the year is 39.3 percent, which is 4.0 percentage points more than in 2024. In December 2025, 54,774 new BEV passenger cars were registered (+63.2 percent), giving them a share of around 22.2 percent of the total market.

New registrations of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) recorded an even more significant increase in 2025 as a whole. 311,398 new PHEVs were registered during this period, 62.3 percent more than in the previous year. The share of all new passenger car registrations rose to 10.9 percent, around 4.1 percentage points more than in the previous year and the highest figure since the end of the PHEV purchase subsidy in 2022. The market share of international vehicle manufacturers in plug-in hybrids was 38.8 percent in 2025 (+0.7 percentage points compared to the previous year). In the last month of the year, 30,259 new PHEV passenger cars were registered, representing an increase of 58.4 percent and a market share of 12.3 percent.

Together, electric vehicles (BEVs, plug-in hybrids, and fuel cell vehicles) will thus achieve a market share of 30.0 percent in 2025, with 856,589 new registrations, which is almost 10 percentage points higher than in 2024. This corresponds to an increase of 49.6 percent over the previous year. In December 2025, the electric market was up 61.4 percent.

New registrations of non-plug-in hybrid vehicles grew by 8.0 percent in 2025. 816,111 new registrations correspond to a share of 28.6 percent of new passenger car registrations. In the previous year, this figure was around 1.7 percentage points lower. The market share of international vehicle manufacturers in the hybrid segment was 46.1 percent for 2025 as a whole.

In addition, 12,079 liquefied petroleum gas passenger cars (-11.9 percent) and 3 natural gas vehicles (-97.8 percent) were newly registered in the past twelve months.

New registrations of pure combustion engine cars reached exactly 1,172,663 units in 2025 as a whole, of which 777,641 were gasoline-powered (-21.6 percent) and 395,022 were diesel-powered (-18.3 percent). Gasoline engines accounted for 27.2 percent of passenger car registrations, while diesel engines accounted for 13.8 percent. In December 2025, both gasoline and diesel market shares were slightly below the annual average, accounting for 25.1 and 11.0 percent of all new passenger car registrations, respectively.