In April 2023, the EU car market saw a significant increase in passenger car registrations, with 803,188 units sold, marking a 17.2 percent growth from the previous year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).
From January to April 2023, the EU car market grew by 17.8 percent to 3.5 million registered cars. Despite the year-on-year improvement, sales were still down by 22.8 percent compared to the same period in 2019, highlighting the EU car market’s ongoing struggle. Among the four major EU markets, Spain (+33.7 percent) saw the highest gains, followed by Italy (+26.9 percent), France (+16.7 percent), and Germany (+7.9 percent).
In April, the market share of battery electric cars experienced a significant upturn, rising from 9.1 percent to 11.8 percent. While hybrids now represent 24.8 percent of the EU new car market, petrol cars continue to dominate with the largest share at 38.2 percent.
Last month, EU registrations of new battery electric cars recorded a significant increase (+51.9 percent), reaching 94,561 units. This represents a market share of 11.8 percent, an increase of almost 3 percent compared to April 2022.
Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) continued to grow in April, with sales up by 22.7 percent to 199,407 units. As a result, HEVs now occupy a market share of 24.8 percent (up from 23.7 percent in April 2022).
Despite a 4.3 percent growth in March, the EU market for plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) declined in April (-5.5 percent). Consequently, the overall PHEV market share declined from 9.2 percent in April last year to 7.4 percent in 2023.
New petrol car registrations in the EU had another strong month in April, with sales increasing by 17.3 percent, reaching 306,757 units. This amounts to a market share of 38.2 percent, the same share as in April 2022. Since the beginning of the year, EU petrol sales have reached nearly 1.3 million units, a 18.3 percent increase from the same period in 2022.
The EU diesel car market remained stable in April (+0.03 percent), despite positive performance in two of the bloc’s largest markets: Italy (+21.5 percent) and Germany (+2.4 percent). Diesel cars represent 14.7 percent of the EU market share, down from 17.2 percent in April 2022.
