Germany's 2026 car market in numbers: mileage, prices and real cost of ownership

The DAT Report 2026 by Deutsche Automobil Treuhand is Germany's most authoritative annual snapshot of the car market from the consumer's perspective, based on 4,666 respondents (model year 2025). We pulled out the five numbers that actually move your total cost of ownership (TCO) and explain what they mean for your next buying decision.

1. Annual mileage: 13,140 km and rising

For the second year running, German private drivers covered more ground: 13,140 km on average (2024: 12,560 km). Of that, 36% is commuting, 59% private trips and just 5% business. This is the single most important input to any TCO calculation: it decides how fast an efficient powertrain pays back. At 13,000 km a year an EV breaks even more slowly than at 25,000 km - but much faster if you can charge at home.

2. Workshop costs: EUR 542 maintenance + EUR 604 repairs

Drivers who serviced their car in 2025 paid EUR 542 on average (0.97 times per year). Repairs cost EUR 604 (0.35 times per year). Weighted together that is about EUR 737 per year in real workshop spend - up 27 to 30% versus 2020. That inflation is why nearly 60% of owners changed their behaviour and now fix only what is strictly necessary.

This is a TCO trap: workshop costs rise steeply with age. A car that is cheap to buy can be expensive to keep. The report shows 33% of used-car buyers were pushed to switch mainly by high repair bills.

3. New-car prices by powertrain

The report calls it the car-buying paradox: EV buyers were willing to invest more (higher trims, bigger batteries), while petrol buyers deliberately sought cheaper models. For TCO this means the higher purchase price of a BEV must be recovered through lower running and maintenance costs - and whether it is recovered depends on your mileage and electricity tariff.

4. Used cars: EUR 18,310 average

With more than six million ownership transfers, the used market dwarfs private new sales. In 2025 buyers paid EUR 18,310 on average; prices have sat on a high plateau since 2022. 49% of used buyers used financing and the leasing share was 0%. If you buy used, weigh depreciation against age-driven repair costs carefully.

5. What it means for your decision

The DAT numbers confirm what a proper TCO calculation does: purchase price alone tells you little. Only the sum of depreciation, energy, maintenance (rising!), insurance, tax and financing reveals which car is genuinely cheaper over the holding period.

Our TCO calculator compares up to three cars with real costs for energy, fuel, insurance, tax and depreciation - in under two minutes - so you can see whether switching powertrain pays off for your profile.

Sources: DAT Report 2026 (short report), model year 2025, Deutsche Automobil Treuhand / NIQ GfK (charts A1, W2, W5, P20, P34, P36); czympojade.pl RealTCO v4.0 - TCO methodology.