Germany’s car landscape spans a large registered fleet, major domestic production, extensive exports and a substantial automotive workforce. The figures below distinguish registered vehicles, household equipment, new registrations, factory output, foreign trade and industry measures by period and geography.
Key German Car Statistics
The most quotable German car statistics are:
- 49.1 million passenger cars were registered in Germany on 1 January 2024, a record-high registration stock.
- Germany had 580 passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants in 2024, based on the registered stock and population.
- Passenger-car density was 543 cars per 1,000 inhabitants in Germany in 2014, compared with 578 in 2023.
- Passenger cars were available in 80.0% of German households in 2023, according to household equipment statistics.
- Germany registered 2,817,300 new passenger cars during January–December 2024, 1% fewer than in 2023.
- Electric passenger-car registrations totaled 572,700 in Germany in 2024, down 18% year over year.
- Battery-electric registrations reached 380,600 in Germany in 2024, down 27% year over year.
- Germany produced 4,069,222 passenger cars in 2024, 1% below the 2023 domestic-production total.
- German plants produced 1,797,852 SUVs and off-road passenger cars in 2024, under the VDA vehicle-class definition.
- German factories produced 155,700 electric passenger cars in November 2024, 29% more than in November 2023.
- Germany exported about 3.4 million new passenger cars in 2024, with export value of €135.0 billion.
- All-electric cars represented 25.9% of Germany’s new-car exports in 2024, equal to 881,000 vehicles.
- VDA-member companies produced 9,524,915 passenger cars outside Germany in 2024, excluding non-member production.
- German automotive-industry turnover was €541.9 billion in 2024, down 4% from 2023.
- About 773,000 people worked in Germany’s automotive industry at the end of the first half of 2024, excluding suppliers.
- Car and engine manufacturers generated €443.8 billion in German turnover in 2024, down 3%.
Contents
- Fleet size, density and household ownership
- New-registration trends
- Domestic production by vehicle class
- Electric-car production and registrations
- Exports, imports and international production
- Industry turnover and employment
German Car Statistics: Fleet Size, Density and Household Ownership
Germany’s registered passenger-car stock reached 49.1 million vehicles on 1 January 2024, according to the Federal Statistical Office’s summary of registration data. This is a KBA registration-stock measure, so it is not the same as the number of cars actively driven.
Source: Pkw-Dichte 2024 leicht gestiegen (Destatis).
| Measure | Period | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Passenger-car density | 2014 | 543 per 1,000 inhabitants |
| Passenger-car density | 2022 | 583 per 1,000 inhabitants |
| Passenger-car density | 2023 | 578 per 1,000 inhabitants |
| Passenger-car density | 2024 | 580 per 1,000 inhabitants |
These density figures are derived from the registered stock and population, rather than from a survey of driving activity. Regional differences were wide in 2024: Saarland recorded 655 cars per 1,000 inhabitants, while Berlin recorded 329.
Household equipment statistics describe a different population and measurement. In 2023, passenger cars were available in 80.0% of German households, while households had 114.0 passenger cars per 100 households; the latter can exceed 100 because some households have multiple cars.
Of the household passenger cars recorded in 2023, 36.5 per 100 households were bought new and 68.1 per 100 were bought second-hand. Electric cars and plug-in hybrids together were present at 7.1 cars per 100 households.
Source: Equipment of households with vehicles (Germany) (Destatis).
German Car Registration Statistics and Market Trends
Germany recorded 2,817,300 new passenger-car registrations from January through December 2024, a 1% decline from 2023. The December total was 224,700 cars, down 7% year over year, and the full-year market remained 22% below its 2019 pre-crisis level.
Source: Pkw-Markt in Deutschland 2024: Elektro-Produktion mit neuem Rekord – massiver Einbruch bei E-Neuzulassungen (VDA/KBA figures).
| 2024 registration group | Germany registrations | Year-over-year change |
|---|---|---|
| All new passenger cars | 2,817,300 | -1% |
| German brands, including group brands | 1,926,900 | — |
| Foreign brands | 890,400 | — |
| Electric passenger cars, BEV and PHEV combined | 572,700 | -18% |
| Battery-electric vehicles | 380,600 | -27% |
| Plug-in hybrids | 191,900 | +9% |
The VDA grouping assigns 1,926,900 registrations to German brands including group brands and 890,400 to foreign brands. The electric category combines BEVs and PHEVs, while the individual rows separate the two drive types.
German Car Production Statistics by Vehicle Class
German plants produced 4,069,222 passenger cars in 2024, 1% less than in 2023. The VDA vehicle-class series shows how that domestic output was distributed across body and market categories.
Source: Automobile Production (VDA).
| Vehicle class | German production in 2024 |
|---|---|
| SUVs and off-road passenger cars | 1,797,852 |
| Compact cars | 908,075 |
| Medium class | 470,715 |
| Upper-medium class | 469,575 |
| Luxury class | 163,465 |
| Sports cars | 103,003 |
| Utility vehicles | 89,762 |
| Large vans | 35,688 |
SUV and off-road production was the largest listed class at 1,797,852 vehicles. The VDA table also includes a 2024–2025 comparison context in which the published SUV/off-road figure is described as rising 8.2%; that comparison must not be read as a 2024-versus-2023 change.
German Electric-Car Production and Registration Data
Electric-car production and registration moved differently across the supplied periods. German factories produced a record 155,700 electric passenger cars in November 2024, 29% more than in November 2023.
Source: Pkw-Markt in Deutschland 2024: Elektro-Produktion mit neuem Rekord – massiver Einbruch bei E-Neuzulassungen (VDA/KBA figures).
- November 2024 production included 120,500 battery-electric vehicles and 35,200 plug-in hybrids.
- German plants produced nearly 1.3 million electric passenger cars from January through November 2024, combining BEVs and PHEVs.
- December 2024 electric registrations totaled 52,670, down 27% year over year.
- December 2024 BEV registrations were 33,560, down 39% year over year.
- December 2024 PHEV registrations were 19,100, up 7% year over year.
The annual registration series therefore records a fall in combined electric registrations and a sharper BEV decline, while the monthly production series records strong output in November. These are different measures: factory production is not the same as registrations in the German market.
German Car Export, Import and International Production Statistics
Germany exported about 3.4 million new passenger cars in 2024, with a foreign-trade value of €135.0 billion. Export volume rose 2.5% from 2023, while the value is a trade statistic rather than manufacturer revenue.
Source: 3,4 Millionen neue Autos im Jahr 2024 aus Deutschland exportiert (Destatis).
| Foreign-trade measure | 2024 result |
|---|---|
| New passenger cars exported | About 3.4 million |
| Value of new passenger-car exports | €135.0 billion |
| New passenger cars imported | 1.8 million |
| All-electric share of exports | 25.9%, or 881,000 cars |
| Share exported to the United States | 13.1% of exported cars |
| Share exported to the United Kingdom | 11.3% of exported cars |
| Share exported to France | 7.4% of exported cars |
All-electric cars accounted for 25.9% of new-car exports, equal to 881,000 vehicles under the foreign-trade classification. The destination shares are shares of export quantity, not export value.
International production extends beyond German plants. VDA-member companies produced 9,524,915 passenger cars abroad in 2024, and their worldwide passenger-car production totaled 13,594,137; these totals cover VDA members and exclude non-member production.
German Automotive Industry Turnover and Employment Statistics
The VDA’s broader automotive-industry measure recorded €541.9 billion in turnover in 2024, down 4%. Nearly 70% came from international business, and Eurozone business represented 29% of international turnover.
Source: Umsatzdaten der Automobilindustrie in Deutschland (VDA).
- Turnover from Eurozone customers fell 7% in 2024, while turnover from customers outside the Eurozone fell 3%.
- Car and engine manufacturers generated €443.8 billion in 2024 turnover, down 3%; this is a subsector measure, not passenger-car sales alone.
- Body, structure and trailer manufacturers generated €13.0 billion, down 10%.
- Automotive suppliers’ turnover fell 8% in 2024.
- Manufacturers of car and car-engine parts generated €85.2 billion in 2024 turnover.
- Car and car-engine parts represented nearly 16% of turnover from domestic automotive production in 2024.
Employment provides a separate view of the sector. About 773,000 people were employed at the end of the first half of 2024, excluding suppliers, while automotive-industry employment fell by 20,000, or 2.6%, between the ends of 2014 and 2024 under the Destatis establishment measure covering businesses with at least 50 employees.
Source: Autoindustrie verzeichnet im 1. Halbjahr 2024 Umsatzrückgang von 4,7 % and Beschäftigte im Verarbeitenden Gewerbe zum Jahresende 2024: -1,2 % zum Vorjahr (Destatis).
Automotive exports were about €190 billion in the first half of 2024, around 70% of industry turnover in that period. Pure-electric cars represented 22.7% of Germany’s new-car exports during January–June 2024, a first-half export mix that should not be substituted for the full-year 2024 share.