Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 24, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleGerman EV demand appears inflated due to self-registrations by dealers, warns ZDK, as manufacturers aim to meet CO2 targets.
BERLIN (Reuters) -Consumer demand for electric cars in Germany is not as strong as official data would suggest due to dealers and manufacturers increasingly 'self-registering' their vehicles, a German industry association said on Monday.
Self-registrations can help companies meet certain targets, including European CO2 requirements, the ZDK association for motor vehicle trade said.
"Nearly one in four newly registered cars in October was self-registered," ZDK President Thomas Peckruhn said in a statement, calling this a warning sign.
"This shows that the market's growth is not currently driven by genuine customer demand, but is primarily being sustained by artificial stimuli from manufacturers and dealers," he added.
Official data from Germany's KBA agency showed that registrations of purely electric vehicles in Germany increased by around 39% year-on-year in the first 10 months of 2025, accounting for some 18% of all new car registrations.
The ZDK said self-registrations in that segment were up 51%, citing the 10-month data.
The VDA lobby for German carmakers did not immediately comment on the data, nor did the VDIK, which represents international carmakers in Germany.
Carmakers like Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are lobbying Brussels to weaken the European Union's current 2035 phase-out target for new combustion engines, pointing to a slower-than-expected uptake of EVs, which are also costlier to make.
(Reporting by Rachel More, editing by Thomas Seythal)
Self-registration refers to the practice where dealers or manufacturers register vehicles themselves to meet certain targets, rather than waiting for actual consumer purchases.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are cars that are powered entirely or partially by electricity, often seen as a more sustainable alternative to traditional combustion engine vehicles.
CO2 requirements are regulations that limit the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that vehicles can produce, aimed at reducing environmental impact.
Consumer demand refers to the desire of consumers to purchase goods and services, which can be influenced by various factors including price, quality, and market trends.
Market growth is an increase in the demand for products or services within a specific market, often measured by sales volume or revenue over time.
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