EU car registrations in September: electrification sets through

The European Car Manufacturers Association (ACEA) data show that in September 2024, new EU car registrations continued their downward trajectory (-6.1%), with negative results across three of the region’s four major markets.

France declined by -11.1%, Italy by -10.7%, and the German market regressed by 7%. On the other hand, Spain experienced a rebound (+6.3%). Electric sales seem to increase again, and electrified cars now represent 56.9% of the market.

Nine months into 2024, new car registrations remained stable (+0.6%) and almost reached 8 million units. Spain (+4.7%) and Italy (+2.1%) showed positive performances, while the French and the German car markets declined (-1.8% and ‑1%, respectively).

By power source

Electric

Battery-electric (BEV) car registration rose by 9.8% to 139,702 units in September 2024. Last month, battery-electric cars accounted for 17.3% of the EU car market, up from 14.8% last year.

However, year-to-date market volume was still 5.8% lower than last year’s period, with the total market share falling to 13.1% from 14%, driven by a substantial decrease in Germany (-28.6%). In September, the Germans bought 8.7% more electric cars than in the same month last year.

Other countries in the EU where the sales of electric cars went seriously up last month were Belgium (+32.8%), Denmark (+40%), Italy (+30%), the Netherlands (+20.6%), Portugal (+43.9%), and Spain (+69.9%). The United Kingdom also increased by 24.4%, and Norway scored +38.8%.

Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, and Hungary’s more than doubled sales were even more spectacular, but we’re still talking about small absolute numbers here. On the contrary, France saw a decline of -6.3%, Sweden went down 7.7%, and Switzerland regressed by -11.2%.

Hybrid

Plug-in hybrid (PHEV) car registrations decreased (-22.3%) last month, with declines recorded in all major markets. In September, plug-in hybrids accounted for 6.8% of the car market, down from 8.2% last year, with 54,889 units sold.

Hybrid-electric (HEV) registrations grew again in September by 12.5%. The market share now stands at 32.8%, up from 27.4% in September 2023. Hybrids are now surpassing regular gasoline cars.

Gasoline and diesel

In September 2024, gasoline car sales dropped by 17.9%, with all four key markets recording double-digit declines: France (-31.9%), Italy (-23.3%), Germany (-15.2%), and Spain (‑10.7%). Gasoline cars now represent 29.8% of the market, down from 34% in the same month last year.

The diesel car market declined 23.5%, resulting in a 10.4% share last September. Overall, decreases were observed in two-thirds of EU markets.

By brand

In September, Volkswagen Grnce again led the market with 26.8% market share (+1.8%), followed far behind by Stellantis Group (14.9% market share, -4.3%). Third is Renault Group (10.9% share), followed by Hyundai Group and Toyota Grooth registering 7.8% market share). The difference is that Hyundai decreased from 8.2%, and Toyota rose from 6.9%.

Not so far behind last month was BMW Group, with a 7.6% market share, followed by Mercedes-Benz (6.1%), Tesla (3.9%), Ford (3.2%), and Volvo Cars (2.3%). In the low market regions, we see JLR suffer: Land Rover sells 23.3% fewer cars, and Jaguar only sells 325 cars anymore in September (-68.8%).

Looking at the year’s first three quarters, we see almost the same ranking. Volkswagen Group is number one (26.4% market share, +1.2% in sales), Stellantis Group comes second (17.2% market share, -5.9% in sales), Renault Group is third (10.7% share, -0.2%), Hyundai Group fourth (8.0% and -5.1%), Toyota fifth (7.9% and +16.4%).

BMW Group stays sixth (6.6%, +0.5%), Mercedes-Benz is seventh (5.2%, -3.6 %), Ford is eighth (3.0%, -15.3%), Volvo Cars is ninth (2.7%, +38.9%), and Tesla is tenth (2.4%, -7.6% in sales).

The only Chinese manufacturer in the top 15 is SAIC Motor (MG, among other brands), ranked 13 and scoring a 1.4% market share. Shouldn’t we still take the ‘Chinese invasion’  with a grain of salt?

Of course, when we look at pure electric sales only (1.05 million in the first nine months in Europe), the Chinese market share is much higher, but we still can’t speak of an actual invasion. In any case, it’s surely time for European car manufacturers in the electric market to wake up completely.