New car sales super-charged by electric demand
New car sales in Europe have risen 5.7% year-to-date, according to the latest data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.
Growth was driven by electrified vehicles, with hybrid vehicles proving to be the most popular powertrain. Hybrid sales rose to 3,090,530 units in the first nine months of the year to account for 36.3% of the total market, while electric vehicle sales increased to 1,931,465 units, which represents 22.7% of the EU market.
Meanwhile, plug-in-hybrid electric car registrations reached 860,257 units, which equates to 10.1% of all sales.
However, the ACEA has reported that the combined market share of petrol and diesel cars fell to 28.2% compared with 36.9% a year earlier.
Petrol registrations fell by 19.1% to 1,802,078 units, with its market share decreasing from 27.7% last year to 21.2%, while diesel sales were down 19.5% with its market share falling from 9.3% to 7.1%.
