Electric car sales in Germany, Europe's largest car market, fell by 37% in July compared to the same period of last year, continuing the trend towards a general decrease in the popularity of this transport. Such data was provided by the German Federal Transport Administration (KBA).
The number of electric cars registered in Germany last month was 30,762 units, or 37% less than in July 2023. This is the biggest drop since December, when the German government removed subsidies for electric cars.
Unlike electric cars, sales of cars with internal combustion engines increased by 7% in July.
The decline in the electric car market comes amid cuts in government subsidies, leaving carmakers unable to meet their own production plans to transition to greener modes of transport.
Europe's biggest carmaker Volkswagen said last week that it has reduced capacity at its German plants and may increase the time it takes to produce batteries for electric cars.
Falling demand for electric vehicles has also dampened sentiment about the business prospects of German automakers, which in addition to VW include Mercedes-Benz Group and BMW.
At the same time, according to the German Federal Office for Road Transport, last year the number of electric cars in Germany increased by almost 396 thousand to just under 1.41 million.