Archives for April 2021

Remember how “legacy auto,” a.k.a. “ the dinosaurs,” were pronounced near extinction, disrupted by Tesla et al? Just the opposite is true. Not only are news of their demise quite fake, the dinosaurs are beating the newcomers on their green turf, namely battery electric cars.

Let’s have a look at Germany, EU’s largest auto market and home of some of the world’s largest carmakers.  Driven by stringent EU regulations, and juiced by generous incentives, Germany’s share of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) has grown to 10% in the first quarter of 2021, data of German regulator Kraftfahrtbundesamt (KBA) show. Even higher is Germany’s 12% share of Plugin Hybrid Vehicles (PHV). Taken together, nearly a quarter of Germany’s newly registered passenger vehicles could be filled up at the wall socket.

And who’s selling these vehicles? Nine out of ten BEVs, and ten out of ten plug-in hybrids, are made and sold by the alleged dinosaurs.

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