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Electrically charged:
After all, nine percent of all private new car buyers ultimately opted for a purely electric drive
Photo: Julian Stratenschulte / DPA
Toyota began selling its first Prius hybrid cars more than 20 years ago, and the first models of Tesla's Model S electric sedan were delivered eight and a half years ago - but it wasn't until the Corona crisis year 2020 that there was a noticeable increase in electric cars in Germany -New registrations.
The latest study by Deutsche Automobil Treuhand shows how much the behavior of German car buyers and car users has changed in recent months.
The DAT report 2021 was available to manager magazin in advance.
The DAT has been investigating the "automotive sensitivities in Germany" annually since 1974; this time there were significant changes in the more than 5000 people interviewed for the investigation compared to previous years.
On the one hand, there was a noticeable increase in interest in alternative drive systems: slightly more than a third of new car buyers also considered alternative drive types in 2020 before buying them.
The focus was primarily on hybrid drives, with 11 percent interested in purely battery-powered electric cars.
9 percent of all private new car buyers bought a purely electric car.
That is still not an exaggerated amount, but compared to previous years it is a strong increase.
And this is also reflected in the sales figures for all-electric cars for 2020 as a whole.
Used cars were more expensive than ever
On the other hand, the importance of having one's own car increased noticeably among those surveyed.
In 2020, people were more likely to use their own car to cover distances that might previously have been used by another means of transport.
According to the survey, 25 percent of all car owners surveyed used their own car more often in the past year than before the Corona period.
At least a fifth of all respondents rode their bike more often than before.
The annual mileage with one's own car decreased by 6 percent compared to 2019 due to lockdown and increased home office.
In return, however, the own car became the means of travel of choice for the vacation.
For example, those who bought a new car last year used it much more often than before for vacation trips: 42 percent of all new car buyers reached their holiday destination with their new car in 2020, compared to 27 percent in 2019.
Because of the long delivery times for new cars, apparently many car buyers switched to used vehicles.
This is suggested by the data mentioned in the study for the used car market.
Used cars were more expensive than ever last year: an average of 14,730 euros was paid for a used car in Germany, 20 percent more than in the previous year.
A large proportion of used car buyers relied on brand dealers: 48 percent of all used cars were purchased from brand dealers in 2020, 21 percent in free trade.
The private market, i.e. car sales between private individuals, now accounted for only 31 percent of all used car purchases.
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