This article showcases our top picks for the best German automotive companies. These startups and companies are taking a variety of approaches to innovating the Automotive industry, but are all exceptional companies well worth a follow.
We meticulously selected companies ranging from cutting-edge startups to established brands based on their outstanding performance in the following categories:
- Innovation: Innovative ideas, Innovative route to market, Innovative product
- Growth: Exceptional growth, Exceptional growth strategy
- Management and Societal Impact
Top Automotive Startups in Germany
Data sourced from Crunchbase and SemRush.
PORSCHE: An automobile manufacturer. At Porsche, the focus is on the cohesion and teamwork of their employees. Because if they want others’ hearts to beat faster, they have to carry their own in the right place. It has been their guiding star – for more than 70 years.
SONO MOTORS: A global mobility and energy service provider. They believe in mobility free from fossil fuels. It is their mission to accelerate the transition towards sustainable mobility by making every vehicle solar. We are on a pioneering mission to accelerate the revolution.
DAIMLER TRUCK: Automotive company that produces premium cars and commercial vehicles with a global reach. Get news about the whole range of their products with their brands Mercedes-Benz, Setra, Freightliner, Western Star Truck, Thomas Built Buses, FUSO, BharatBenz & RIZON.
FINN: Offers monthly car-subscriptions to create a sustainable method for mobility. Their mission is to make mobility fun and sustainable: They help everyone who loves driving their own car but refuses the struggle, commitment and intransparent costs associated with car ownership.
THYSSENKRUPP: Diversified industrial group that consists of independent industrial and technology businesses. An international industrial and technology company employing around 96,000 people. Across 48 countries it generated sales of €41 billion in fiscal 2021/2022.
AUTO1 GROUP: An online automotive platform that aims to connect buyers and sellers of cars throughout Europe. Europe’s leading digital automotive platform for buying and selling used cars online. They offer a quick and easy way for consumers and professional car dealers.
BOSCH: A global supplier of technology and services. A leading global supplier of technology and services. It employs roughly 421,300 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2022). The company generated sales of 88.2 billion euros in 2022.
HOLORIDE: A company turning vehicles into moving theme parks by synching XR with vehicle movement and navigation data. Developing the future of in-vehicle media, linking XR with real-time motion data, like acceleration and steering.
E.GO MOBILE: Develops and produces electronic vehicles. They are an independent German manufacturer of innovative electric vehicles and production solutions. Their philosophy is innovation with practicality and purpose.
PROGLOVE: Develops innovative industrial wearables that enable manufacturing and logistics staff to work faster, safer, and easier. They create industrial wearables to connect the human worker with the Industrial IoT.
CLUNO: An online car subscription service providing rental cars irrespective of any contracts. Cluno is a new, flexible mobility concept: a digital car subscription. Car subscription works for anyone who wants to get around in his or her own car without the hassle of really owning it.
VIMCAR: A Germany-based company developing a fleet management SaaS solution and vehicle tracking systems for SMEs. Redefining business mobility by seamlessly integrating commercial vehicles into digital ecosystems.
MCLAREN GROUP: An automotive, motorsport, and technology company that manufactures sports cars. Globally renowned as one of the world’s most illustrious high-technology brands, encompassing McLaren Racing, McLaren Automotive and McLaren Applied.
AUDI: Laxury cars manufacturing company all over the world. The focus at Audi is on their – the people – and they are shaping the future of mobility together. With their inner drive. With the aim to continuously improve. With their mindset, courage and confidence.
CONTINENTAL: Develops pioneering technologies and services for sustainable and connected mobility of people and their goods. Founded in 1871, the technology company offers safe, efficient, intelligent and affordable solutions for vehicles, machines, traffic and transportation.
SURVE MOBILITY: Europe’s No. 1 for intelligent shared mobility operations. Through an integration of full service, intelligent software and smart infrastructure solutions they provide highly efficient and sustainable shared mobility operations to set shared mobility fleets in motion.
QWELLO: Charging station that serves the design, build, and operate charging infrastructure for the public space. “Access to EV charging infrastructure will soon be the only barrier remaining, to unlock the potential of e-mobility”. Cap Gemini Invent (2019).
WIRELANE: A full service provider in the field of electric mobility. “Charging is a fundamental right like unrestricted access to the Internet. Possible for everyone, anytime, anywhere. Constantin Schwaab, who has been a committed electromobilist since founding Wirelane (2016).
FREE2MOVE: Combines the offers of all your favorite car sharing providers. The only global mobility brand that offers a complete and unique ecosystem for its private and professional customers around the world (Europe & USA). Relying on data and technology.
MILES: An independent carsharing and modern mobility. They believe in a world where mobility is shared, sustainable, and accessible to everyone. They are creating an alternative to private car ownership with the goal to reduce the number of vehicles on the road and improve urban life.
DURR: A mechanical and plant engineering firm for automobile manufacturing. Dürr Systems AG is part of the Dürr Group, one of the worldwide leading machinery and plant manufacturers with distinctive expertise in the fields of automation, digitalization and energy efficiency.
FORMEL D: The global service provider of the automotive industry. They develop market leading concepts as well as individual, scalable solutions along the entire automotive value chain – from the development to the production and up to the aftersales service.
VEHICULUM: An online platform that enables an independent and transparent price overview of leasing offers and online transactions. The first digital solution for hassle-free car leasing. Their platform empowers our customers to compare multiple models and leasing offers in real-time.
FIBRECOAT: Produces thermoplastic-coated fibres for composites and aluminium-coated fibres for shielding applications. All areas of their lives from their clothing to communication satellites are based on materials. The higher the volume in these markets, the higher the price pressure.
CAROOBI: Integrated marketplace for automotive aftersales. Stress-free car service: the all-round, worry-free package for their car. Every step of carrying out their car service is taken care of for them. Qualified consultants will help to successfully complete their matter at any time.
TOPOSENS: Builds highly robust and low-cost near-field 3D ultrasonic vision technology for robotics and autonomous vehicles. Developed the first 3D ultrasonic collision avoidance sensor worldwide. The sensor system ECHO ONE perceives its environment via the principle of echolocation.
ONO: Trailblazing emission-free transportation of goods within cities. A European tech company based in Berlin on a mission to improve the quality of life in cities by rethinking urban logistics. Emobility company offering environmentally-friendly urban logistics solutions.
UNDERSTAND.AI: Provides the training and validation data to make autonomous driving safe and reliable. They believe that AI is the most powerful tool our generation has at hand. At understand.ai, they make deep learning accessible for real-world applications like self-driving cars.
GOGGO: Developing the legal and engineering framework of European autonomous mobility networks. Founded in 2018 by entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky and ex-McKinsey Associate Partner Yasmine Fage to lead the driverless revolution in order to solve the transportation challenges.
SCANTINEL PHOTONICS: A high-tech start-up developing next generation LiDAR technology for autonomous vehicles. A world leading FMCW sensing technology company in Ulm, Germany. Scantinel Photonics is backed by ZEISS Ventures, Scania Growth Capital and PhotonDelta.
GERMAN AUTOLABS: Empowers mobile workers in logistics with voice assistance. Builds automotive voice assistance for professional drivers. Full stack voice platform is entirely customizable, easy to deploy and powers industry-tailored products for fleets and vehicle manufacturers globally.
TRANSPOREON: They pioneer the road freight industry’s transformation towards greater efficiency, supply chain transparency and environmental sustainability. On a mission to decarbonize freight transportation. They help their business measure, manage and reduce carbon emissions.
OBJECTBOX: A high-performance edge database and out-of-the-box Sync solution for Mobile and IoT. A radically new infrastructure software for developers empowering sustainable Edge Data Management – now also supporting vectors (soon to be a full edge vector database for Edge AI).
HARMAN AUTOMOTIVE: Automotive company offering set of innovative products world-wide. They believe automobiles should not just be about driving, but about human experiences. That’s why they are developing innovative solutions that are designed around drivers and passengers.
COMODULE: A universal data monitoring and visualisation platform for light electric vehicles. Comodule has connected nearly 700 000 light electric vehicles to the internet and helping to create a world where emissionless transport is people’s first choice for urban commuting.
E-FARM: The first full service provider for global and efficient trading of pre-owned farm equipment. Developed a digital marketplace that feels as personal and trustworthy as buying from a local dealer. They are partnered with over 1.000 dealers and speak 20+ languages – certainly yours too.
ARTISENSE: Provides a globally leading 3D-vision technology, enabling vehicles, robots and UAVs navigate effectively in any space without GPS. A computer vision and sensor fusion software company that develops an integrated localization platform using cameras as a lead sensor.
PARKHERE: A high-tech company, which provides holistic parking solutions and mobility concepts. Offers smart solutions for digital parking management. Consisting of software, hardware, mobile applications, and sensor technologies, ParkHere offers companies, real estate managers.
HIGH MOBILITY: An open, API-first car data platform. An Internet of Cars company and an official connected cars data partner to vehicle manufacturers. With its pioneering data delivery platform, Saves businesses millions annually by enabling them to integrate, authenticate.
BAREWAYS: Develops AI driven software solutions to enable mobility innovations in rural areas. Driving assistance functionalities outside of urban- or motorway environments. Beyond Urban Mobility. With the Bareways navigation service, we enable you to drive safely and pleasantly.
AZOWO: Enterprise Software powering mobility transformation across all shared, connected, electric and autonomous processes. Cloud software and AI-platform to enable seamless fleetmanagement, bike & car sharing and EV-transformation.
HAPPYCAR: Offers customers an extended transparency of offers showing insurance packages, kilometer fees and one-way fees, among many others. Founded 2011 in Hamburg, operates the online car rental comparison portal HAPPYCAR.
VEACT: Developing applications, processes and products to improve sales success in the car trade market using data-based marketing. With their innovative software and their in-depth market knowledge, they make marketing and sales processes in the automotive industry more efficient.
MADE OF AIR: In business to reverse climate change. Climate-focused materials company transforming waste biomass into high-value, carbon negative materials for industrial use. Materials replace fossil materials and other composites in manufactured products.
AUTOBAHN: Connecting the automotive industry in a digital way. Disrupting the way we sell, order and deliver vehicles by bringing OEMs, importers and dealers closer to the vehicle buyer. Autobahn is the first VSP (Vehicle Sales Platform), which connects all automotive stakeholders.
EVUM MOTORS: A manufacturer of electric utility vehicles. The EVUM aCar is a compact all-electric commercial vehicle with all-wheel drive. EVUM Motors is the spin-off of a visionary research project at the Technical University of Munich.
GAPLESS: Building a blockchain based platform for collectible cars, and later on they want to move into all things collectible. They believe that they will live in a world where they either share or own things. They want to be the first platform for things their own – things you love -.
VOLKSWAGEN GROUP: A multinational automotive company that manufactures variety of vehicles. The Volkswagen Group with its headquarters in Wolfsburg is one of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe.
TORQEEDO: Develops electric motors for tenders, small boats, dinghies, jollies, canoes, and day sailors. Founded in 2005 in Starnberg. They specialize in the development and manufacturing of electric and hybrid drives ranging from 0.5 to 200 kW for both commercial and recreational.
GOVECS: Focused on creating zero emission electric vehicles, designed according to the requirements of modern electric mobility. Already look back on more than 10 years of company history and, as a leading manufacturer of electric scooters in Europe.
KRAFTWERK: Specialiced on producing kraftwerk TUBES. TUBES are able to convert any gas to electricity in an automotive or aerical vehicle. Produces fuel battery TUBES for mobile applications, like electric cars or aerical vehicles. TUBES are the Core Technology for mobile Clean Tech!
RECALM: A technology company that develops innovative acoustic devices for active noise reduction in vehicle cabins. Worldclass communication system for heavy machinery, automotive and aviation. They are improving the quality of life by turning noise into sound.
ATESTEO: Deliver safe, reliable, independent results. ATESTEO is the worldwide leading drivetrain testing specialist for the international automotive and automotive supply industries. With 150 of their own state-of-the-art test benches, over 30 years of experience, own drivetrain.
SHELF NETWORK: Arbitrage network for cross-border vehicle trades, providing best matching by synchronizing trades across online marketplaces and brokers. Distributed Auctioning protocol allowing to run the same auction synchronously on all interconnected marketplaces.
SCALE: Intelligent data solutions for automated driving at scale. Their mission is to accelerate the development of AI applications. They believe that to make the best models, they need the best data. The Scale Generative AI Platform leverages your enterprise data to customize.
EPILOT MOBILITY: Electromobility, Maas, e-car sharing, e-car subscriptions, mobility budget. Offers private, corporate and public service customers an e-mobility budget. The vehicles and fleets are managed with the app. All important data can is stored and can be read out easily.
U-BLOX: Enabling satellite navigation for automated driving. u blox (SIX:UBXN) is a global technology leader in positioning and wireless communication in automotive, industrial, and consumer markets. Their smart and reliable solutions, services and products let people, vehicles.
YIELDKIT: Provides Smart Monetization Solutions for Publishers. Yieldkit is a technology platform for performance and affiliate marketing that connects content and commerce. Matching occurs through Yieldkit’s machine learning technology.
OPENSYNERGY: Provides embedded software products for the next generation of vehicles. Specialist in embedded automotive systems, has developed COQOS, Standards-based software platform that integrates Linux & Android-based systems as well as AUTOSAR-compliant software.
FILANCORE: Identity as a Service, IaaS, Software as a Service, SaaS, Distributed Ledger Technology, DLT, Blockchain, Identity for Things, IoT Security. To address the current problems of Industrial IoT and the needs of companies in all industries, filancore offers management software.
KONETIK: Helps companies to integrate electric vehicles with their automated AI driven vehicle and charging advisor. Mobility is going through a transition that has an implication on how fleets are being planned and managed. The emerging number of new Electric Vehicle models are making them viable alternatives for various use cases within company fleets.
AUTOAID: SaaS company that provides Car Diagnostics for Smartphones, Tablets, and PCs. Develops innovative solutions for OBDII telematics and vehicle diagnostics since 2012. Located in Berlin, the company is dedicated to enabling access to connected car data for all businesses.
AUTOSCOUT24: An online car market for buying and selling new and used vehicles, motorbikes and accessories. They spark connections to move the world. As the largest pan-European online car market with around 1.5 million listings and more than 43,000 car dealer partners.
MOTOURISMO: Offers the ability to find, compare, and book motorcycle travel, motorcycle training, and motorcycle shipping services. The leading marketplace for motorcycle tourism. The largest portal for motorcycle travel, motorcycle training and motorcycle shipping.
NEXT MOBILITY LABS: Growing sustainable digital mobility startups. As an institutional co-founder, they partner with bold entrepreneurs to build sustainable tech companies offering digital services and platforms for the next generation of mobility.
EVOPARK: German mobility tech startup with focus on off-street parking. Started in 2014 with the vision to make parking considerably easier for drivers. Developed a wide range of digital parking solutions for B2B partners such as AXA insurance or the sports car manufacturer Porsche.
PREDICT.IO: Turns smartphones into context sensors to help developers target moments rather than statistics. It is hard to engage app users. Sending a push in the wrong moment gets you uninstalled. Using smartphone sensors to understand user context is difficult.
BMW GROUP: Manufactures and sells luxury cars and motorcycles worldwide. With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial.
TICKET MOBILITY: Serves as a Mobility Wallet for private and corporate users that tracks Carbon Footprint. B2B Shared Mobility Wallet, which can be used for all public transport and micro mobility that can track carbon footprint, developed for companies to better manage their transportation.
ASR: Simulation, Online Platform, Software, Marketplace, Simulator. Develops automotive driving simulators and collaborative software solutions. Simulation Framework allows an easy integration of existing development tool chains into the simulator landscape.
&CHARGE: The engagement and service platform for E-Mobility in Europe. The leading platform combining smart user engagement with value-added services around EV charging. Established unique “plug and play” value-added services in the global E-Mobility ecosystem.
VOITH: Provides systems, products, and industrial services for the energy, oil and gas, paper, transportation, and automotive markets. The Voith Group is a global technology company. With its broad portfolio of systems, products, services and digital applications.
HELLA: Designs and manufactures lighting equipment for local and international car manufacturers. A listed, internationally positioned automotive supplier operating under the umbrella brand FORVIA. Within this factual group, HELLA stands for high-performance lighting technology.
PENDIX: Innovative Eletric Drives for Bicycles. With the Pendix eDrive, a bike can be converted into an eBike. This is by no means a craft kit. The retrofit kit, which has been on the market since 2015, was developed by 5 engineers. The production takes place in Germany.
MANN+HUMMEL: A leading global expert for filtration solutions and development partner. Under its two business units Transportation and Life Sciences & Environment, the Ludwigsburg-based Group (Germany) develops intelligent filtration and separation solutions.
AMPIDO: An online platform that enables users to find and rent parking spots. ampido is the first german c2c parking lot finder, where owners of driveways, garages or parking spaces can rent their parking lot on a short-term (instant booking) or long-term basis.
FIRMEN-KFZ: A mobility procurement and management platform. They deliver high-quality B2B decision-making contacts in the automotive sector with an explicit interest in specific products and services. The automotive sector is their strength – and their passion.
AUTODOC: Online spare original auto parts retailer. Founded in 2008 in Berlin and A leading E-commerce for automotive spare parts in Europe. They are a growing profitable technology company active in 27 countries with a highly diverse team of over 5 000 people from 50 countries.
ZF: Provides systems for the mobility of passenger cars, commercial vehicles and industrial technology. ZF is a global technology company supplying systems for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and industrial technology, enabling the next generation of mobility.
BIKE24: A provider of automotive hitches and related products. One of the largest online retailers for cycling and outdoor equipment in Europe. Because of their very good availability, large range and a good service they are the perfect dealer for bikes, outdoor, running, triathlon, swimming.
HEYCAR: A used car marketplace. Offers top vehicles from experienced dealers on a website without any advertising. Heycar has been making buying used cars online easy since 2017. With expertise, trust, security – and the goal of putting one person at the center of their actions: them.
SIXT RENTAL CARS: A car and truck rental company also offering limousine service. SIXT is a leading international provider of high-quality mobility services. With around 7,500 employees worldwide in 2022 and their products SIXT rent, SIXT share, SIXT ride and SIXT+.
CARGOGUARD: A technical solution to protect valuable goods and classified documents during transportation and storage. Offering holistic security solutions for logistics since 2007. Solutions that impress with their easy handling, highest security standards and low system costs.
SCOUT24: Operates digital marketplaces in the real estate & automotive sectors. Scout24 is one of the leading digital companies in Germany. With ImmoScout24, an online platform for residential and commercial real estate, we successfully bring together owners, realtors, tenants.
PLUGSURFING: Find, access and pay for eletctric car charging wherever you they with PlugSurfing. A software of choice for 1M+ drivers in 30 countries, who complete millions of charging sessions every year. Working closely with charging point operators and car makers.
MEINAUTO GROUP: A platform set-up by Hg to acquire businesses in the automotive distribution and financing space. A digital disrupter backed by deep and extensive auto know-how and network as well as robust asset management capabilities.
HAPAG-LLOYD: A global leader in container shipping, specialising in reefer cargo, dangerous goods and special cargo projects. With a fleet of 250 modern container ships and a total transport capacity of 1.8 million TEU, Hapag-Lloyd is one of the world’s leading liner shipping companies.
MICROVISION: The market leader for LIDAR sensor technology in the automotive industry. A pioneer in MEMS-based laser beam scanning technology—integrating optics, hardware, algorithms, and machine learning software into proprietary systems—that addresses existing.
MAHLE: Offers innovative mobility solutions that stand for clean air, fuel efficiency, and driving pleasure. A leading international development partner and supplier to the automotive industry with customers in both passenger car and commercial vehicle sectors. Founded in 1920.
FAAREN: Enables automotive companies to enter the subscription market. Enables automotive stakeholders to become car subscription providers by offering a white label software solution and an own car subscription place marketplace. Within hours clients are able to enter a new business field.
BIKE-ID: Offers a free international bicycle registry, security marking kit, and insurance for bicycles. Bike-ID is the only complete bicycle protection solution: international bicycle registry and a full-coverage bicycle insurance from a mobile phone.
CHARGEX: Provides electric car charging solutions. A Munich based tech-startup. Develop a state of the art charging solution for electric vehicles. This is their contribution to a more sustainable way of transport. The multiple socket for electric cars.
VECTOR: Partner in the development of automotive electronics, supporting manufacturers + suppliers with software and services. Tools, software components, hardware and services that relieve embedded systems engineers and simplify the development of automotive electronics.
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