KBA's April 2026 figures show Germany's new-car market at 249,163 registrations, up 2.7% year-on-year (ACEA, April 2026, ICCT European Car Market Monitor, April 2026). On the surface, that is a quiet headline. The interesting story is in the brand table and in the BEV column.
Volkswagen still #1 but losing share
Volkswagen held its position as Germany's largest brand by volume, with 18.5% market share in April. The qualifier: brand-VW registrations were down 6.7% year-on-year. The cause is partly the ongoing model-mix transition between the legacy ID.3/ID.4 BEV line and the new ID.2 generation, plus continued softness in the diesel segments that historically padded the brand's volume.
Mercedes-Benz +4.9%, BMW down
Mercedes-Benz registered a 4.9% increase and held 9.3% market share, the strongest premium-brand performance of the month. BMW, Ford, MAN and Porsche all posted lower volumes than April 2025. The Mercedes outperformance is partly EQ-line strength (the new EQS variants) and partly fleet-renewal demand at the executive segment.
The growth winners: Smart, MINI, Audi, Skoda
Among brands that grew, the standouts were small-segment players riding the BEV wave. Smart led with +260.0% at 972 vehicles (off a low base), MINI grew 23.7%, and Audi added 19.0% to reach 18,451 units. Skoda continued its multi-year German rise, posting +12.2% to 21,192 units and an 8.5% market share, making it the strongest-performing import brand on the German market this year.
BEV: 64,350 units, 25.8% share, +41.3% YoY
The BEV story remains the structural driver. April 2026 saw 64,350 battery-electric registrations, a 41.3% year-on-year jump, and a 25.8% share of all April registrations. That is well ahead of the European average and consistent with the post-incentive-cut recovery story that started showing up in late-2025 KBA bulletins.
What this means for the H2 brand fight
Three observations. First, VW Group's overall position in Germany is still dominant (VW + Audi + Skoda + Porsche together near 40% of the market) even as brand-VW slips. The group's brand-portfolio approach is doing what it is designed to do. Second, Mercedes's premium outperformance plus Audi's +19% suggests German premium fleet demand has structurally returned after the 2024 trough. Third, BYD's German registrations, while small in absolute terms, tripled in April to a new record, the first credible Chinese-brand European foothold story (eletric-vehicles.com).
Open the live Germany dashboard for brand-by-brand monthly registrations, BEV share trend and the KBA verified data feed.