Tesla's German sales soared by 457%. It became the only car company whose sales were growing in the first eight months.

Published: Sep 07, 2020 08:34 (GMT+8)

SMM: Tesla is leading the electric vehicle craze in the strongholds of Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler, according to data released by the German Federal Motor vehicle driver Service on Thursday.

According to official statistics, the number of registered electric vehicles in Germany surged by 221.5% to 16076 in August 2020 compared with the same period last year, of which Tesla sold 2846 vehicles, up 457% from the same period last year, accounting for 18% of the total sales of electric vehicles in Germany that month. At the same time, Tesla was also the only brand with net sales growth in the same period in terms of car sales from January to August this year, with Volkswagen, Toyota, Ford, Hyundai and other automakers all falling more than 20 per cent over the same period.

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(German car sales figures for August, source: German Federal Motor vehicle driver Agency)

(CAM), a research firm, also said on Thursday that, including plug-in hybrids, the market share of electric cars reached an all-time high of 13.2% in August. Stefan Bratzel, director of the CAM program, said the German electric car market has benefited greatly from the federal government's cash incentive policy.

According to the German government's policy, in June, there will be a further increase in cash incentives for electric cars priced below 60,000 euros, as well as a 3% VAT discount (corresponding reform of vehicle exhaust tax). In theory, an electric car that sells for less than 40, 000 euros can get a bonus of 9000 euros and tax breaks.

Overall, although electric cars currently account for only 1% of the total number of cars in Germany, the German federal government plans to have 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2022. Volkswagen's all-electric cars are already in mass production at the Zwickau plant, and the Tesla Berlin Super Factory will start delivering the Model Y in 2021. Musk has said that the quality of the Model Y made in Germany will be better than that in the United States, which may also be a "selling point" for the car's sales growth.

In addition to new models and government subsidies, supporting measures for electric car travel are also a major factor in sales growth. There are now 28000 public charging stations in Germany, 3/4 of which are operated by public utilities, BDEW, a German energy and water industry business group, said on Thursday.

The more convenient charging infrastructure has also improved the German public's view of electric cars. According to BDEW, 11.3% of Germans now have the idea of buying an electric car at some point in the future, up slightly from 9.3% in October last year.

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