After two, as usual, weak months at the beginning of the quarter, Tesla in Germany again achieved a significant increase in the number of registrations for its electric cars in March – even though operation was hampered by corona virus problems from the beginning of the month. According to figures published by the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), 2,263 Tesla vehicles were newly registered in March, which corresponds to a German car market share of 1.1 percent.
Tesla Model 3 in stock for the first time
Tesla sales for individual markets are of limited significance because the development also depends heavily on which regions and countries Tesla prioritizes. Nevertheless, the March numbers for Germany seem to show that the company’s electric cars will be bought if they are available. And Tesla held up well worldwide in the first quarter, despite Corona.
There will soon be more clarity on this question, because unlike usual, Tesla is currently offering a number of new Model 3s for immediate purchase on its website for Germany. Deliveries under corona conditions now seem to be largely under control – Tesla at least delivered its electric cars to their customers at least in the end of March with vans, for others a contactless handover process was developed, in which the controllability of Teslas via app helps. In this respect, April 2020 could be a surprisingly solid first quarter.
Tesla above average, electric cars are coming
This is all the more true since Tesla has apparently been able to defy the general weakness in the German car market. Overall, the KBA reported a 20 percent drop in registrations in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the first three months of 2019; Tesla lost significantly less than average by 7.8 percent in the quarterly comparison – and the comparative figure for 2019 includes the Model 3 launch in Germany in March. Tesla’s good performance in March had already been indicated by the figures for the environmental premium for electric cars: This was the first time that Model 3 was at the top of the application list.
However, the German electric car market is generally picking up steam, which could be related to the purchase premium increased to 6,000 euros in February. Already this month, the pure electrical approvals increased by three quarters compared to February last year. In March they rose further to a good 10,000 and a German market share of 4.8 percent.
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