Tesla outsells Toyota in German market down 26% in September

FRANKFURT -- Tesla benefitted from booming sales of electric cars in Germany in September, while traditional brands such as Mercedes-Benz and Audi saw their registrations slump as the shortage of microchips continued to lead to production cuts.

Registrations for the month fell 26 percent to 196,972, according to data from the KBA motor authority, released on Tuesday.

Tesla was the biggest winner as EV sales continued to gain traction. The automaker's registrations rose 158 percent to 7,903, outselling Toyota's 7,394 sales.

Tesla was helped after it added the Model Y crossover to its European lineup. The company began exporting Chinese-built Model Ys to Europe in August, amid plant delays to the opening of its new factory under construction near Berlin. Tesla is holding a "Giga-Fest" at the factory on Saturday, October 9. Production of Model Y cars for the European market is expected to start soon after.

Volvo's EV brand Polestar also benefitted from Germany's EV boom, with its registrations up 109 percent to 311 vehicles.

Total market sales of full-electric cars jumped 59 percent to 33,655 for a 17.1 percent share of the market, a larger share than diesel cars. Registrations of diesels plunged 54 percent for a 15. 9 percent share.

As diesel sales declined, many buyers chose instead plug-in hybrid cars, whose sales increased 14 percent to 22,842 for a 11.6 percent share.

Gasoline car registrations declined by 41 percent for a 35.9 percent share.

Winners/losers

Registrations of Volkswagen brand, the German market leader, fell 23 percent.

Among other German brands, Mercedes-Benz plunged 50 percent, Audi sales fell by 39 percent and BMW dropped by 19 percent.

Other major brands that saw big falls included Jaguar, down 61 percent; Ford, down 51 percent; Peugeot and Alfa Romeo, both down 49 percent; and Skoda, down 48 percent.

Opel managed to limit its sales decline to 1.2 percent.

Click here for September German sales

The month's other winners included DS Automobiles, whose registrations rose 74 percent, along with Suzuki, up 50 percent and Lexus, which gained 20 percent

Sales to private customers dropped by 25 percent and sales to business fleets were down 26 percent.

Overall registrations through September were down 1.2 percent to 2.02 million

The month was the worst September since 1991, was caused by the lack of availability of many models due to the shortages of semiconductors, the VDIK importers association said.

"The German passenger car market is entering increasingly difficult waters," Reinhard Zirpel, VDIK president, said in a statement.

"We are currently heading for a stagnating or even declining passenger car market in 2021. And this is despite the extremely low level of the previous year, which was dominated by the coronavirus pandemic," Zirpel said.