Hybrid cars have taken over a slowing European car market in 2024, while electric cars have lost ground, according to figures published on Tuesday by the manufacturers’ lobby (ACEA). The market share of electric cars fell in Europe for the first time since the market took off in 2020, down to 13.6% for the year (but 15.9% in December).
With their high purchase prices, electric models have been hindered by the elimination of subsidies in Germany, the largest European market, but this electrification takes very different forms depending on the country and the brands. Electric car sales have continued to grow in Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands, and could recover in 2025 with the arrival of less expensive models.
On European shores, in the United Kingdom, the implementation of ambitious commercial objectives caused sales to skyrocket (+21.4%). On the brand side, the electric pioneer Tesla saw its sales fall by 13.1% in the Union, while Volvo (+28%) took advantage of the launch of new electric models.
Toyota and Renault
Electric cars have been especially surpassed by the explosion of hybrids. These more versatile and less expensive models, equipped with a gasoline engine but also with a small electric battery that is recharged while driving, allowing you to travel a few kilometers without polluting, have captured 30.9% of the market (33.1% in December). Hybrids are taking market share away from gasoline models (-4.8%, 33.3% market share in the year), and have even doubled it in the last four months of 2024. Diesel continued to fall in chopped (-11.4%), except in. the countries of Eastern Europe.
The good sales of hybrids especially benefited Toyota-Lexus (+17.5%) and the Renault group (+1.9%), champions of these engines. “This is the prelude to the transition to electric,” stressed the director of the Renault brand, Fabrice Cambolive, when presenting its sales figures in mid-January. After conquering the large SUVs, the hybrid is gaining market share against the smaller Renault models, such as the Captur SUV or the compact Clio, and could continue to progress in countries that still hesitate before electric vehicles, such as Italy or Spain, he stressed.
The automobile lobby also asks the European Union for “flexibility” in its policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. European manufacturers oppose possible fines that the EU could impose on them in case of non-compliance with emissions reduction targets in 2025.
An “existential” risk
In an interview with AFP, ACEA director general Sigrid de Vries spoke on January 16 of an “existential” risk for the industry, as several manufacturers announced job cuts in Europe. The electric car market is not “developing as it should.” The EU “cannot be content with having objectives on paper and being very rigid. We must adapt to real-world conditions,” he argued.
As a whole, the automobile market remained stable in one year (+0.8%), with 10.6 million new cars registered in the European Union, still far from the levels before the Covid epidemic. France, Germany, Italy and Belgium, in particular, will see fewer cars on the road in 2024, while Spain, Portugal and Poland recorded an increase in sales.
Volkswagen, the market leader, grew by 3.2%, driven in particular by its Skoda brand, while Fiat and Opel caused a drop in sales of its parent company Stellantis (-7.2%).
Source: BFM TV
