FLENSBURG (dpa-AFX) - Cars newly registered in Germany last year emit significantly less CO2 than new vehicles in 2024. On average, the nominal value dropped by 11.7 percent to 105.8 grams per kilometer, according to figures from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA). For many major brands, the decrease was even greater. However, this does not apply to all brands.
For example, German market leader VW managed to reduce its average CO2 emissions by 14.5 percent to 109 grams per kilometer. In contrast, the figure for second-place Mercedes fell by only 2.6 percent to 118.6 grams per kilometer, while BMW, ranked third in registration statistics, achieved a reduction of 11.3 percent to 105 grams per kilometer, largely matching the market average.
VW subsidiaries Skoda, Audi, and Seat, which occupy positions four to six in terms of new registrations, reduced their CO2 emissions by an above-average 15.8, 14.5, and 18.7 percent, respectively—at least as much as the group’s core brand. Seat, which the KBA also counts together with the Cupra brand, recorded the highest reduction among the 16 brands with at least 50,000 new registrations last year, and at 96.7 grams per kilometer, achieved one of the lowest values overall.
Only One Brand Among the Top 16 Sees an Increase
An increase was observed in only one of the 16 most important brands: for Volvo, the figure rose by 9.2 percent—but to a still exceptionally low 78.3 grams.
Last year’s changes can at least partially be explained by the share of electric cars among new registrations. VW and its subsidiaries significantly increased this share, thereby improving their fleet balance. At Mercedes, however, the share remained virtually unchanged, and at Volvo, it actually declined somewhat.
Rising Share of Electric Vehicles Only Partly Explains the Change
The change cannot be attributed solely to the share of electric vehicles. In most cases, reductions are greater than the increase in pure electric vehicles (BEV), and for example, BMW achieved an improvement roughly in line with the market average, even though it increased its share of electric vehicles at a significantly below-average rate. Without electric cars, the balance would look much worse: for pure diesel vehicles, the KBA reports an average CO2 emission of 166 grams per kilometer, and for gasoline vehicles, 144 grams per kilometer.
The values are based on official consumption or emission figures. Actual emissions can vary significantly—depending, among other things, on driving style or how often plug-in hybrids are driven purely electrically./ruc/DP/zb
