The association said registrations of 3.2 million passenger cars in total are forecast for 2015 – up 5%.

Volker Lange, VDIK president, said: "This result is – with the exception of the eco-rebate year 2009 – the best result in terms of new vehicle registrations since 2006. The VDIK participate members at the same rate as the overall market, and I expect them to maintain their market share at last year's level of 35.6 percent. However, the structure of these new registrations has changed dramatically. While in 2006, almost every other newly registered passenger car was owned by an individual, this is only true for every third vehicle in 2015. On the other hand, registrations of vehicles "truly" used for business and commercial purposes have increased substantially. Here, we will see a record volume of 780,000 units in 2015."

The VDIK added that petrol cars are on track to continue to dominate sales, with new vehicle registrations to rise by 2% year on year to 1.6 million units in 2015. Meanwhile diesel-engined models will see growth of 7% to 1.5 million units.

The VDIK also said that the market for passenger cars with alternative propulsion systems will reach 1.5% market share in 2015. It added that new registrations of plug-in hybrids and electric passenger cars are expected above 21,000 units in 2015, which is up 60% from the previous year, but only 3,000 of those vehicles are owned by private individuals. However, a decline is expected in registrations of vehicles with liquid gas and natural gas engines. For 2015, the VDIK projects a total of 11,000 new LPG- or NPG-powered vehicles. In 2014, this number was over 14,000, and in the record year 2008 they reached over 26,000 new registrations. It added that a main reason for the decline in demand is the continued uncertainty with regard to tax advantages in fuel taxation.

The VDIK also said it continues to support the Federal Government's mobility and fuel strategy and the goal to see one million electric vehicles on German streets by 2020.

It commented: “This urgently requires additional political initiatives. The law on electric mobility, which by now has come into force, is a step in the right direction. However, it will fail to produce the desired effect if local governments don't do their part and offer user benefits (such as free parking for electric vehicles, use of bus lanes).

“The VDIK applauds the proposed special depreciation for company cars with electric drive trains. However, this must be complemented, as quickly as possible, by efficient buyer incentives that significantly reduce the price difference to traditional engines and also extend to the private market, which is at rock bottom.”

The VDIK said another important measure for the promotion of electric mobility is the creation of an efficient charging infrastructure, which has to include not only conventional charging options but also, and especially, non-discriminatory quick-charging points for all electric vehicles.

Volker Lange added: "I cannot endorse the view that Germany is a leading market in electric mobility. As long as there are no real subsidies and the battery charging infrastructure is not continuously improved, electric vehicles will not reach high levels of new registrations; we are thus still a long way away from being a leading market!"