BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Sales of electric cars continue to weaken. Last month, just under 29,700 passenger cars with pure battery drive (BEV) were newly registered, according to the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) on Monday. With a drop of 0.2 percent, this was roughly the same number as in April last year. This means that the decline in new registrations of e-drives has slowed somewhat. Last year, demand for alternative drive systems had recently slumped, partly due to the short-term discontinuation of the subsidy programs. In March, for example, almost 30 percent fewer BEVs were newly registered than a year earlier.

Transportation expert Constantin Gall from the consulting firm EY does not expect demand to recover this year. "We are seeing increasing uncertainty in the market regarding the ramp-up of electromobility," he said. "Customers are having doubts about the prospects for electric cars, even if politicians are no longer prepared to call for this technology." Reinhard Zirpel, President of the Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (VBIK), expressed a similar view: "The BEV segment is currently suffering a crisis of confidence, which was mainly caused by the short-term decision to abolish the electric bonus."

According to the KBA, a total of around 243,102 new cars hit the roads in April. This was almost 20 percent more than in the same month last year. However, EY expert Gall attributes this primarily to three fewer working days in April 2023. Taking this effect into account, the growth in new registrations was only three percent.

According to the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), the additional working days in April this year also led to an increase in production. According to the VDA, just under 400,000 units were produced in Germany last month, around a quarter more than in the same month last year./maa/DP/nas