Sales of cars with hybrid engines continued to rise in Europe in April, while electric cars fell, according to figures released Wednesday by automakers. Non-rechargeable hybrids represented 29.1% of registrations (+33.1% in one year), with strong growth in the main European markets (Germany, France, Italy, Spain) and close to 266,000 units in total.
As a whole, the automobile market grew by 13.7% in April, with nearly 914,000 registrations. This progression is partly related to the two additional working days in the month of April 2024 compared to April 2023, since Easter, a non-working day in many European countries, fell last year in April. During the first four months of the year, the European market grew by 6.6%, approaching 3.7 million units.
Volkswagen dominates more than a quarter of the European market
Sales of gasoline cars benefited from this increase in April (+7.3%), but their market share continued to decline in favor of hybrids, to 36%. Electric cars continued to grow in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, but stagnated in Germany and Sweden, due to the elimination of purchase bonuses. They are even falling in Italy.
While the EU has validated the end of the sale of cars with thermal engines in 2035, and after meteoric growth for three years, the share of electric vehicles stagnates in one year, at 11.9%. And it remains well below the 14.6% market share recorded throughout 2023. The sector leader, Tesla, also saw its sales fall by 4% during the first months of the year.
As for the other manufacturers, the month of April allowed Volkswagen (+15.5% year-on-year), European number one, to present good data for its main brand, but also for Skoda and Seat. Since the beginning of the year, the German group has controlled more than 25.7% of the European market (-0.4 points in one year). Sales of number 2, Stellantis, also saw its market share decline, to 18.4%, despite a strong rebound in Citroën sales. Renault-Dacia had a good month in April, but lost a market share of 10.5% (-0.4 points). Toyota had a good start to the year and has recovered much of the decline from its competitors, with 8.1% of the market since the beginning of the year.
Source: BFM TV
