Passenger car sales in Germany 2004-2020

In 2020, Germany's passenger car sales amounted to around 2.9 million units, a 19 percent slump year-on-year. The German automobile industry is one of the biggest in the world.

“Abwrackprämie“ boosts sales in 2009

Passenger car sales in Germany peaked at 3.8 million units in 2009. This was due to the government's introduction of a scrappage program, the so-called "Abwrackprämie". It had been implemented for the purpose of improving air quality by encouraging owners to scrap their old car (over the age of 9 years) and buying a newer, supposedly more environmentally friendly Euro 4 model. Controversy surrounded the program at the time, mainly because car sales had been declining in the years prior and it was seen by many as a move intended to help German carmakers make greater profits. Evaluations by Environmental Action Germany (“Deutsche Umwelthilfe”) and the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Heidelberg (“ifeu”) concluded that the ecological benefit was minimal if not non-existent. According to the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control, Volkswagen was the car brand profiting the most from the program.

Impact on air quality

The transport sector is among the leading producers of greenhouse gas emissions in Germany and almost 30,000 deaths are attributable to air pollution in Germany each year. Germany became the largest European market for electric vehicle sales in 2020.