In full-year 2022, global battery-electric car sales worldwide by German premium brands Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche increased but volumes remained low. In Germany, luxury electric car sales were below the industry average.
2022 (January to December): BMW sold more battery-electric cars worldwide in 2022 than Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche but Tesla sold more electric cars globally than the German premium luxury brands combined. Porsche had the highest percentage of electric cars in its global sales mix but sold fewer BEVs in 2022 than in 2021. In Germany, German car brands generally had a smaller share of electric cars in their sales volume than foreign carmakers.
Electric Car Sales by German Premium Brands in 2022
Worldwide battery-electric car sales by German premium brands were as follows in 2022:
| Brand | All Cars | BEV | % BEV | % 22/21 BEV | % 22/21 All Sales |
| Audi | 1,614,200 | 118,200 | 7.3 | 44.3 | -3.9 |
| BMW | 2,100,692 | 172,000 | 8.2 | 107.7 | -5.1 |
| Mercedes-Benz | 2,043,900 | 117,800 | 5.7 | 124.0 | -1.0 |
| Porsche | 309,900 | 34,800 | 11.2 | -15.7 | 2.6 |
| Volkswagen | 4,563,300 | 325,100 | 7.1 | 23.6 | -6.8 |
| Tesla | 1,313,851 | 1,313,851 | 100.0 | – | 40.3 |
Note: All data as provided by the respective carmakers.
BMW Top German Premium Brand for Electric Car Sales Worldwide in 2022
In 2022, BMW sold more battery-electric cars globally than its direct German competitors in the luxury premium sector of the market. BMW sold 172,000 BEVs worldwide — more than double the total for 2021. Mercedes-Benz also more than doubled global electric car sales in 2022 but volumes remained less than for Audi, which could increase BEV sales by only 44%.
Porsche had the highest percentage of battery-electric cars in its worldwide car sales in 2022 at 11.2%. In contrast to other top German car brands, Porsche increased overall car sales in 2022 but had a 16% decrease in sales of battery-electric cars. Much of the blame for this was placed on a lack of components and a delay in bringing cars to market due to problems with the Volkswagen Group’s electronic development team.
Battery-electric car sales of the more mainstream Volkswagen brand increased by less than a quarter in 2022 for a 7.1% share of all sales — only Mercedes-Benz had a lower share. VW had a fairly dismal sales year overall with global sales down 7%.
The five German car brands combined sold 767,900 battery-electric cars worldwide in 2022 — Tesla sold almost double that number.
Electric Car Sales by Premium Brands in Germany in 2022
In full-year 2022, new battery-electric passenger vehicle registrations by select German premium brands in Germany were as follows:
| Brand | Total Sales | BEV Sales | % BEV | % 22/21 BEV |
| Audi | 213,410 | 28,322 | 13.3 | 62.2 |
| BMW | 209,722 | 23,470 | 11.2 | 51.4 |
| Mercedes-Benz | 243,999 | 25,182 | 10.3 | 90.7 |
| Porsche | 29,315 | 4,789 | 16.3 | -9.9 |
| Volkswagen | 480,967 | 63,206 | 13.1 | -10.9 |
| Tesla | 69,963 | 69,963 | 100.0 | – |
| Mini | 40,142 | 11,744 | 29.3 | 24.2 |
| Germany | 2,651,357 | 470,559 | 17.7 | 30.1 |
| Source: KBA |
In 2022, battery-electric car sales in Germany increased by only 30% to take a record 17.7% share of the German new car market. Although the sales of battery-electric cars by Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz increased faster, German carmakers generally left the largest part of the market to foreign brands.
At 16.3%, Porsche had the largest share of electric cars in its sales mix but sales of electric Porsches in Germany actually contracted by 10%. VW did even worse with battery-electric car sales in Germany down by 10.9% for a share of only 13.1% of all Volkswagens sold.
Although BMW sold more electric cars globally than Audi and Mercedes-Benz in 2022, the situation was reversed in Germany. Only 11.2% of BMWs sold in Germany in 2022 were fully electric compared to 29% for the BMW-owned Mini brand. Only every tenth Mercedes-Benz sold was battery-electric.
With nearly 70,000 electric cars sold in Germany in 2022, Tesla clearly was the leading electric car brand in Germany.
Global Worldwide Car Sales by Brand in 2022 (Full Year)
→ USA Car Sales by Brand in 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2018
→ Global Worldwide Car sales by Brand in 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020
Global worldwide sales by brand in 2022:
- Audi
- Bentley
- BMW
- Bugatti
- Cupra
- Hyundai
- Kia
- Lamborghini
- Mercedes-Benz
- Mini
- Porsche
- Rolls-Royce
- Seat
- Skoda
- Tesla
- Volkswagen Group (including Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Seat / Cupra, Porsche, Skoda, VW)
- Volkswagen Group Electric Car Sales
- Volvo
NOTE: “Sales” as reported by the various brands generally refer to deliveries and not necessarily sales to the customer or final registration. Terms and definitions may vary. All statistics are provided by respective car manufacturers unless clearly stated otherwise.
