Vehicle stock
There are fewer stinkers on the German roads
More than half of the cars now has the exhaust gas standard Euro 6 or does not emit any exhaust gases at all. On the retreat, however, vehicle classes are also considered environmentally friendly.
The cars on German roads become cleaner. In the meantime, almost 53 percent of the over 49 million approved cars either have the exhaust gas standard Euro 6 or, as pure electric cars, they do not emit any exhaust gases, as can be seen from data from the Federal Motor Transport Authority with a key date 1st January. A year ago, the proportion was 49 percent. At the same time, however, the proportion of small and compact cars and minis is shrinking on the stock.
The most important driver for the higher euro 6 share was that the number of older cars with poorer exhaust gas standards in the vehicle stock decreased by around 1.7 million. The KBA data does not show what exactly happened to them, for example, whether they were scrapped or sold abroad. In addition, the number of electric cars approved in Germany, which have no local exhaust gases, rose by 243,000 to 1.65 million.
The euro standards for exhaust gas are by far the most widespread in Germany. The higher the number, the later the introduction and the more strictly the limit values for different pollutants such as nitrogen oxides or fine dust. The latest is Euro 6 – specifically in the Euro 6e version. Euro 7 will follow in the coming years.
The exhaust gas standards do not make any regulations for CO2 emissions. In addition to the type of drive and the efficiency of the engine, the weight and size of the vehicles also play a role here. And here there is an unfavorable development in the vehicle population, because the small cars are becoming increasingly less common.
The compact class with a total of 11.2 million vehicles is still number one, but it has shrunk by 132,000 cars. The number of small cars fell by 101,000 to 8.6 million and that of the even smaller minis by 62,000 to 3.3 million.
Middle cars and vans are also on the retreat. The SUVs on German roads, on the other hand, increased by 588,000 to 6.6 million, off -road vehicles by 112,000 to 3.3 million. And motorhomes strive for 73,000 to 981,000 towards the million border.
The strong growth in the SUVs is due to the further high popularity of the vehicle class. In 2024 they made up almost a third of the new registrations. After all, there were also many electric cars. SUVs are well suited for this vehicle type, as their design leaves space for the batteries. This is also evident in the existence: there the SUVs dominate the area of pure electricity with 626,000 vehicles. No other vehicle class only comes to half of this value.
dpa
Source: Stern
