Motor Vehicle Dealer Registration

Commercial motor vehicle trading requires a trade registration (Gewerbeanmeldung) at your local trade office. Car dealerships are classified as a monitored trade (überwachungsbedürftiges Gewerbe) under Section 38 of the Trade Regulation Act, which means the authority checks your personal reliability before approval.

You must provide a certificate of conduct (Führungszeugnis), a trade register extract, and a tax clearance certificate. Dealers are subject to consumer protection rules including a statutory warranty period of at least one year for used vehicles sold to consumers. Cash transactions above certain thresholds trigger anti-money laundering obligations. If you handle end-of-life vehicles, you must also comply with the End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation (Altfahrzeug-Verordnung) for proper disposal.