China EV registrations in Germany in May: Nio 22, Xpeng 186, Leapmotor 509, BYD 1,857

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Jun 4, 2025 6:19 PM CEST

Jiri Opletal

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Most of China’s EV brands in Germany were down in May, with several exceptions. Nio was down 37%, while BYD was up 820% compared with the same month last year. Volkswagen and Stellantis-backed brands Xpeng and Leapmotor have no year-over-year comparisons as they started sales in Germany less than a year ago, but their results are surprisingly good.

239,297 passenger cars were registered in Germany in May, slightly up 1.2% from last year. All-electric cars were up 44.9% to 43,060 units, reaching 18% EV market penetration. Plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) were up 79.4% year-on-year to 25,181 units, reaching 10.5% market share.

For comparison, the US automaker Tesla registered 1,210 vehicles in Germany in May, down 36.2% from last year.

The new vehicle registrations are published by the German Federal Motor Authority, which tracks new car plate registrations in the country and compiled by CarNewsChina.

May 2025 registrations in Germany

MG got the first spot with 2,156 registered vehicles, up 23.4% from 1,747 units in April and down 20% from 2,699 vehicles in the same month last year. MG sales also include PHEV vehicles and some ICE cars.

EU import duties hit state-owned SAIC the hardest as it was a non-cooperative company. MG is subject to an additional 35.3% tariff to the EU on top of the existing 10% duty, making the total tariff rate 45.3%.

BYD registered 1,857 vehicles, up 18.6% from 1,566 units in April and up 824% from 201 vehicles in the same month last year.

So far in 2025 (Jan-May), BYD sold 4,648 cars in Germany, up 498% from same period in 2024.

For BYD, this is the third consecutive month of growth in Germany and the best result since August 2023, when it registered 2,034 vehicles in Germany.

Stellantis-backed Leapmotor registered 509 vehicles, up 62.1% from 314 units in April.

So far, in 2025 (Jan-May), Leapmotor sold 1,496 cars in Germany.

Leapmotor started serious registrations in Germany in November of last year.

Polestar registered 240 vehicles, down 20.8% from 303 units in April and down 42% from 414 vehicles in the same month last year.

Geely-made Smart registered 331 vehicles, up 22.6% from 270 units in April and down 78% from 1,509 vehicles in the same month last year.

Smart is a brand under Geely Holding that is co-engineered with Mercedes-Benz. According to the company, the Smart EVs are designed by Mercedes-Benz’s global design team, while Geely is responsible for the engineering and developing the new models. Smart cars are produced in China at Geely’s Xi’an plant, which started production in October 2021.

Volkswagen-backed Xpeng registered 186 vehicles, down 10.1% from 207 units in April.

Like Nio and other companies cooperating with the EC anti-subsidy investigation, Xpeng is subject to an additional 20.7% tariff on top of the existing 10% tariff.

GWM registered 189 vehicles, up 42.1% from 133 units in April and down 29% from 268 vehicles in the same month last year.

Lynk&Co registered 158 vehicles, up 777.8% from 18 units in April and up 15,700% from 1 vehicle in the same month last year.

Nio registered 22 vehicles, up 15.8% from 19 units in April and down 37% from 35 vehicles in the same month last year.

Nio operates 20 battery swap stations in Germany, so the Shanghai-based automaker managed to sell fewer vehicles than it operates swap stations. In Europe, Nio operates 60 battery swap stations.

Nio launched its affordable EV hatchback, Firefly, in Europe in April, starting with the Netherlands and Norway.

So far in 2025 (January-May), Nio sold 105 cars in Germany, down 44.7% from the same period in 2024.

Nio is a premium brand competing against Mercedes-Benz, Audi, or BMW in China, which seems complicated in other markets, despite the Shanghai-based EV startup sending its best sellers, the Nio EL6 (ES6 in China) SUV and the Nio ET5 sedan, to the European battlefield.

We will monitor the performance of its entry-level hatchback, Firefly EV, which rivals Volkswagen ID.3. If this car doesn’t sell well in the Old Continent, Nio will most likely need to rethink its whole European operations.