The new car market in the EU increased slightly in October. New registrations rose by 1.1 percent compared to the same month last year, as the European manufacturers’ association Acea announced on Thursday. There was therefore less demand for combustion engines, while electric car sales increased slightly. However, the bottom line plus is mainly due to cars with hybrid drives.
The development in Germany, on the other hand, stands out with regard to combustion engines: it was the only EU country to record an increase in sales figures for gasoline engines.
Hybrid engine expands market share
New registrations of hybrids rose by 17.5 percent. This type of drive had already replaced the petrol engine in the top position in September. With a market share of 33.3 percent in October, the hybrid drive has now expanded its lead.
According to the information, 6.8 percent fewer cars with gasoline engines were newly registered. They still had a market share of 30.8 percent. Sales of diesel cars fell by 7.6 percent and now had a market share of 10.9 percent.
New registrations of electric cars rose slightly by 2.4 percent. According to Acea, their share was 14.4 percent in October. The consulting firm EY emphasizes that this increase is only being borne by a few countries in which “government support is ensuring a sales boom”. Denmark recorded high growth rates (plus 83 percent), Belgium (plus 48 percent), the Netherlands (plus 32 percent) and Portugal (plus 28 percent).