EU car registrations, up 6.6 percent in the first four months of 2024

In April 2024, the European Union car market grew by 13.7 percent, with new registrations totalling 913,995 units, driven by strong increases across all major markets: Spain (+23.1 percent), Germany (+19.8 percent), France (+10.9 percent), and Italy (+7.7 percent), according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).

During the first four months of the year, new car registrations in the European Union increased by 6.6 percent, reaching nearly 3.7 million units. Solid growth was recorded in the region’s largest markets over the period, with Germany and Spain each seeing a 7.8 percent increase, followed by France (+7 percent) and Italy (+6.1 percent).

Last April, battery-electric cars maintained nearly 12 percent of the EU car market, while hybrid-electrics rose to 29.1 percent from 24.9 percent. The combined share of petrol and diesel vehicles dropped to less than half the market, at 48.9 percent, down from 52.8 percent.

Electric cars

In April 2024, battery-electric car registrations rose by 14.8 percent to 108,552 units, with their market share holding steady at around 12 percent. France and Belgium saw significant increases of 45.2 percent and 41.6 percent, respectively, while Germany remained stable (-0.2 percent). From January to April, a total of 441,992 new battery-electric cars were registered, marking a 6.4 percent increase from the previous year.

Hybrid-electric cars also saw robust growth, with registrations up 33.1 percent in April. The largest markets for this segment, France (+48.1 percent), Spain (+38.5 percent), Germany (+25.9 percent), and Italy (+22.8 percent), all recorded double-digit increases, with registrations totalling 265,992 units. This pushed the hybrid-electric market share to 29.1 percent, up from 24.9 percent in April 2023.

Plug-in hybrid car registrations saw a modest increase of 3.7 percent last month. While Belgium experienced a significant decline of 17.6 percent and France remained stable (-0.1 percent), Germany’s strong performance, with a 28.4 percent increase, helped balance the segment. In April, plug-in hybrids accounted for 6.8 percent of the total car market, with 62,148 units sold.

Petrol and diesel cars

In April 2024, petrol car sales increased by 7.3 percent to 328,967, driven by double-digit gains in key markets such as Spain (+24.1 percent), Germany (+18.6 percent), and Italy (+14.1 percent). However, their market share declined from 38.1 percent to 36 percent compared to the same month the previous year. Meanwhile, the diesel car market remained steady at around 118,000 units, accounting for nearly 13 percent of the market. Despite substantial declines in major markets like Italy (-21.1 percent), Spain (-19.3 percent), and France (-18.1 percent), a significant increase in Germany (+28.2 percent) helped to offset these losses.