Volkswagen registered 32,233 new cars in Germany in August 2026, a 15.2% share of the month and still the largest brand by a wide margin, but down 14.0% on August 2025, according to the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA press release pm35/2026, 3 September 2026). The market as a whole rose 2.6% to 212,563 cars.
The top ten brands, August 2026
1. Volkswagen 32,233 (15.2%, down 14.0%). 2. Mercedes 20,680 (9.7%, up 8.0%). 3. BMW 18,986 (8.9%, up 2.0%). 4. Skoda 15,526 (7.3%, up 7.3%). 5. Audi 12,805 (6.0%, down 16.5%). 6. Seat 11,189 (5.3%, down 12.1%). 7. Opel 9,993 (4.7%, down 8.7%). 8. Ford 8,960 (4.2%, down 3.8%). 9. Hyundai 7,261 (3.4%, down 1.7%). 10. Kia 6,382 (3.0%, up 32.4%).
Those ten brands registered 144,015 cars between them, 67.8% of the month. The four Volkswagen Group brands in the top ten, Volkswagen, Skoda, Audi and Seat, took 71,753, or 33.8%.
The fastest growers were Chinese and electric
BYD registered 5,256 cars, up 371.8%, for a 2.5% share, and Tesla 3,034, up 110.5%. Both sell almost entirely battery-electric or plug-in cars, and both grew in the month Germany set its battery-electric record: 68,930 BEVs, a 32.4% share. Private buyers drove the month, with private registrations up 16.9% to a 40.5% share.
Volkswagen's year is still solid
One weak month does not undo the year. Volkswagen has registered 353,983 cars from January to August, an 18.0% share of Germany's 1,965,024, down 5.7%. Skoda is the standout of the established brands at 167,075, up 13.8%. Open the live Germany dashboard for the monthly series, the BEV share line and the brand table.