Premium EV maker Polestar registered 532 vehicles in Germany in the first month of 2026, according to data released on Wednesday by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA).
Registrations more than doubled year over year, rising 126.4%, despite falling 31.9% from the 781 EVs registered in December — typically the industry’s strongest sales month.
January 2026 marked the fourth-strongest month in the last two years in Germany, Europe’s largest automotive market.
German Debut and 2025 Sales
Polestar has officially entered Germany in August 2020 partnering with the local dealership group Adelbert Moll.
Back then, the brand delivered its first Polestar 2 amid the opening of its inaugural showroom in Düsseldorf.
The current German lineup includes the Polestar 2, priced from €48,990 ($57,900), as well as the Polestar 3 and 4, starting at €79,090 and €61,900, respectively — $93,400 and $73,100.
Last year, Polestar sold a total of 5,007 vehicles in Germany, a 57.4% growth from the 3,181 registrations in 2024.
However, the figures remained below the sales recorded in 2022 and 2023: 6,984 and 6,288 units, respectively.
The EV maker reached its 2025 peak of 781 sales in the last month of the year.
EV Adoption
According to KBA, a total of 2,857,591 new passenger cars were sold in Germany throughout 2025.
EV deliveries rose year-on-year by 60.7% to 93,800 units in the country.
The Volkswagen ID.7 sedan was the best-selling fully electric model with 35,000 vehicles.
In the first month of 2026, 193,981 new passenger vehicles were registered, marking a 6.6% year on year decline.
Of those total units, 42,692 were fully electric – a 23.8% year-over-year increase.
The powertrain achieved a market share of 22.0% of new registrations, meaning that one in every five passenger cars registered last month was fully electric.
Hybrids accounted for 79,996 units in January 2026, representing 41.2% of registrations across all powertrains.
Specifically, 21,790 plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) were delivered. Their share rose 23.0% year-on-year to 11.2%.
Chinese Brands in Germany
BYD saw its global EV sales plunge by 30.7% to 296,446 vehicles last month.
However, sales in Germany soared more than 1,000%. The brand registered 2,629 units in the country last month.
XPeng, which is preparing to expand its German (and European) lineup this year, listed 327 vehicles throughout January.
Sales rose by 247.9% from the 94 units recorded a year ago.
Present in the German market since October 2022, Nio registered only one EV there last month, marking its worst result since January 2023.
Zeekr, which is under the Geely Group umbrella alongside Polestar, sold 16 EVs in Germany last December — its first full month of sales.
In January, the brand recorded 10 deliveries — a 37.5% sequential decline.
Besides the Chinese carmakers, Tesla and Lucid recorded 1,301 and 11 units in the country last month, respectively.
January 2026 sales for the US giant grew by 1.9% compared to a year ago, while the California-based company’s figures dropped by 42.1%.
