German car production ends 2024 flat on-year

German passenger production last year came to 4.1 million units, about the same as in 2023, German automotive association VDA reports. December alone, however, saw production drop by 10% compared with December 2023.

This means there was a notable slowdown in the rebound in production seen over the last two years. In 2023, output from German plants rose by 18% year-on-year. In 2022, production increased by 11% on-year, recovering gradually from the shortage of semiconductors that dominated 2021.

However, compared to the pre-Covid year of 2019, 2023/24 output was still 12% lower, the association notes.

In its latest report, VDA provides some detailed production data for electric vehicles until November 2024, broken down by drive type. They show that in November, more electric cars were produced in Germany than in any previous month. Output amounted to 155,700 electric cars, up 29% on-year.

At 120,500 units, more battery electric vehicles rolled off production lines in Germany in a single month than ever before, Kallanish hears. In addition, 35,200 plug-in hybrids (PHEs) were produced.

In total in the first 11 months of 2024, almost 1.3m electric cars were made in Germany. This is already more than in the whole of 2023, VDA notes.

Christian Koehl Germany

kallanish.com