In July, the respective figures were a 5.4-percent drop and 315,000 vehicles, according to the KBA.
The year-on-year drop in the number of newly-registered cars with traditional gasoline and diesel engines was particularly steep at 38.8 percent and 26.7 percent, respectively.
"Alternative drive types showed triple-digit growth in some cases compared to the same month last year," the KBA noted. The number of newly registered fully electric vehicles more than tripled to 16,076 in August, accounting for 6.4 percent of all new registrations.
With a share of 18.4 percent, the number of newly registered hybrid cars more than doubled to 46,188 compared to August last year, according to the KBA. Overall, one in four new passenger cars in Germany were electrified.
According to the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), the year-on-year decline was particularly noticeable because August 2019 had seen unusually high sales as a result of the pending introduction of the new Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP).
Nevertheless, Germany's domestic market was "still weak," the VDA said. In the first eight months of the year, only around 1.8 million new passenger cars were registered, a year-on-year decline of 29 percent.
According to the VDA, Germany's vehicle production and exports were around a third below the previous year's level in August. The country's largest car manufacturers (Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler) all reported heavy losses due to COVID-19.
The number of passenger cars produced in Germany in August plummeted by 35 percent year-on-year. According to the VDA, vehicle exports declined by 31 percent and remained "extraordinarily weak."
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