Europe's car market grows strongly

The automotive market in the European Union recovered significantly in January compared to the previous year. The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, ACEA, reports growth of 12.1% compared to the beginning of 2023. A total of 851,690 new registrations were registered in the European Union last month, with the markets in Germany (up 19.1%), Italy (+10.6%), France (+9.2%) and Spain (+7.3%) contributing to this growth. The share of electrically powered models rose to 10.9%. Hybrid models achieved a market share of 30 percent.

However, combustion vehicles are still at the top of the list of new registrations: Every second new vehicle registered in the EU last month was powered by a petrol or diesel engine. A year ago, the proportion was only slightly higher at 54 percent.
In January, battery electric models recorded an increase of 28.9 percent to 92,741 models. At the same time, the number of hybrid vehicles grew to 245,068 new registrations, and plug-in hybrid vehicles also increased by 23.8 percent to 66,660 units in January, which translates into a Europe-wide market share of 7.8 percent. In Germany, sales of these models rose by 62.6 percent despite the subsidy that was canceled a year ago.

While petrol cars increased by four percent in Europe, diesel registrations fell by 4.9 percent in January, with German customers bucking the trend and allowing diesel to grow by 4.3 percent. Overall, the diesel market share in the EU fell from 15.8% to 13.4% compared to the previous year.

Among the manufacturers, the Volkswagen Group remains in the lead with 221,011 registrations, with Wolfsburg benefiting in particular from the increase in registrations for Skoda, Skoda, Seat and Cupra as well as Audi. In second place was the Stellantis Group, which sold 162,525 cars. In the Renault Group, the Romanian offshoot Dacia has become the most important brand: Of the 86,071 registrations, the Romanian brand alone accounted for 49,078, putting it ahead of Renault by around 13,000 units. While almost all brands recorded growth in January, Ford continues to lose ground in Europe. With just 25,346 registrations in January, its market share in the EU has fallen to three percent. (aum)