Electric car registrations: VW leads, BMW secures 2nd place

Moved Up BMW Regains Second Place in Electric Cars

2026-07-08 Source: dpa | Translated by AI 2 min Reading Time

In terms of new electric car registrations, the automaker BMW has climbed a spot on the podium ...

The Bavarian car manufacturer BMW was pushed from second place in new electric car registrations in Germany, including models like the i4, during the first quarter. Now it has managed to reclaim its spot...(Image: BMW) — The Bavarian car manufacturer BMW was pushed from second place in new electric car registrations in Germany, including models like the i4, during the first quarter. Now it has managed to reclaim its spot...
(Image: BMW)

In the second quarter, only the market leader Volkswagen was ahead of the Munich-based brand in terms of new electric car registrations, according to data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority. Tesla, Skoda, and Audi, on the other hand, lost ground in the rankings. The clear number one remains VW with 25,600 new registrations in the second quarter. This is followed by BMW with just over 19,000 and Skoda with 18,700. Tesla recorded 16,000, and Mercedes 15,700. Audi takes the last spot with 12,400 registered electric models. From January to March, Skoda was still in second place, followed by Tesla and Audi, with BMW only coming after that.

Taking a Closer Look at the Topic of Tesla:

Even though Tesla is no longer taking a top spot, Elon Musk's brand is performing much better than a year ago. Back then, it had significantly lost reputation—partly due to Musk’s political involvement, which caused frustration—negatively impacting sales. Now, Tesla has already sold about one and a half times as many cars in Germany in the first half of the year as it did in all of 2025. Industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer attributes the success to significant price reductions. Around the turn of the year, Tesla models 3 and Y became several thousand euros cheaper, according to Dudenhöffer. While these are relatively old cars, their competitive pricing makes them attractive, as the registration numbers confirm. Prices may also have helped BMW, says Dudenhöffer. Currently, significant discounts are observed from the Munich brand.

Chinese Electric Car Manufacturers are Slowly Improving

Chinese electric car manufacturers are still playing a small but growing role in the German automotive and electric car market. BYD, for example, recorded just over 6,000 new electric car registrations in the second quarter, Leapmotor nearly 5,000, and MG Roewe and Xpeng slightly over 2,000 each. Together, they reach a similar scale to Mercedes. However, in the second quarter, BYD experienced a minor setback, dropping from 12th place in the first quarter to 13th. Leapmotor, on the other hand, climbed from 18th to 15th.

The BYD Dolphin G DM-i competes in the small car segment. (Image:BYD)

BYD has built 15 million electrified vehicles. Thirteen months ago, it was still ten million. (Image:BYD)

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