In the battle for the top spot in the German electric car market, Tesla was ahead again in the first half of the year, but its lead over the Volkswagen (VW) brand is shrinking.

Analysts see a price war coming up in Europe on the EV market, also as a result of the Chinese price deal concluded last week.

Tesla is the number-one brand

Tesla sold 36 400 cars in Germany, compared to VW’s 34 400 e-cars in the first half of 2023, according to figures from the Federal Motor Transport Authority. Tesla grabbed the top spot from VW in the German e-car market in the second half of last year. While Elon Musk’s company defended its top spot in the first half successfully, its lead nevertheless shrank from 7 400 to 2 000 cars.

The brands’ market shares were 16,5% and 15.,%, respectively, out of a total of 220 200 newly registered electric cars in Germany. After the top two, there is a big gap. Mercedes sold 16 900, Audi 14 400, and BMW posted 12 800 in electric car sales in the first half-year, giving them e-market shares between 7,7% and 5,8%.

VW Group is still leading the market

When taking all its brands into consideration, VW Group doesn’t have to worry about its top spot in the e-market. Apart from Audi (already mentioned), the group’s e-car sales also include Skoda, which sold 7 800 e-cars in the period, Seat with 5 900, and Porsche with 2 700.

This brings the Wolfsburg-based VW Group sales to almost twice as much as Tesla, with a 30% overall market e-car share for the VW Group in Germany.

Is a price war in the pipeline?

Renowned analyst and industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer (CAR) says that in the second half of the year, the battle for sales could intensify further and make electric cars significantly cheaper. “The German market is weaker than it seems. The registration figures we are seeing at the moment show yesterday’s reality.”

Current deliveries are mainly coming from order backlogs, indicates Dudenhöffer. Incoming orders are lower mainly due to a drop in government subsidies, he said. He expects prices to drop in the second half of 2023.

“I expect a fierce price war for electric cars in Europe,” the industry expert told DPA, noting that “Tesla has produced significantly more vehicles than it has sold in the last 15 months.”

This will surely put pressure on the e-market, especially when Tesla can no longer load off its cars on the Chinese market with lower prices due to the recently concluded deal, so “the price war will be shifting to Europe.”