By the end of November, just under 9.9 million new vehicles had been registered in the European Union, representing a 1.4 percent increase compared to the previous year, according to industry association ACEA on Tuesday. However, sales remain significantly below pre-pandemic levels. Growth was particularly strong in Spain, where more than one million cars were sold. Germany recorded a modest increase of 0.7 percent. In contrast, car sales have declined in Italy and France since the beginning of the year.
The most popular type of powertrain was the hybrid: more than one in three new cars now features this combined propulsion system. Electric vehicles expanded their share to 16.9 percent. Gasoline and diesel cars, on the other hand, are losing favor with customers. Only 27 percent of new vehicles are equipped with a gasoline engine, compared to just over a third a year ago. Diesel models performed even worse, dropping to a market share of just nine percent.
Among manufacturers, the Volkswagen Group further strengthened its leading position, selling five percent more vehicles across its Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat, Cupra, and Porsche brands. Renault achieved a 6.5 percent increase, while BMW sold 6.1 percent more cars. Stellantis, with brands such as Opel, Peugeot, and Fiat, continued to decline, losing 5.5 percent. Hyundai, Toyota, and Ford were also among the losers. Tesla sales fell by nearly two-fifths, totaling only 130,000 vehicles. With 110,000 cars sold, Chinese competitor BYD was close behind the US electric carmaker.
(Reported by Christina Amann. Edited by Olaf Brenner. For inquiries, please contact our editorial team at Berlin.Newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and economy) or Frankfurt.Newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets)
