According to the newly published figures of the European car manufacturers association ACEA, the EU car market recorded a significant 28,8% increase in passenger car registrations in March, surpassing more than a million units (1 087 939). All the bloc’s most significant markets saw double-digit growth last month, with Spain (+66,1%) and Italy (+40,7%) in the lead.

For the whole first quarter of 2023, the EU car market also saw a substantial increase in new car registrations, with almost 2,7 million units sold. This marks a 17,9% increase compared to 2022, following solid results in the first three months. Among the four major EU markets, Spain (+44,5%) saw the highest gains, followed by Italy (+26,2%), France (+15,2%), and Germany (+6,5%).

Almost half electrified

In March, the EU witnessed a significant increase in new registrations of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), which surged by a massive 58% to reach 151 573 units. This is equivalent to an unprecedented market share of 13,9% and represents a 2,5% increase from March 2022 (11,4% market share).

Double- and triple-digit percentage gains were recorded in most EU member states. Notably, the third-largest market, the Netherlands, saw sales more than double, with a 132,6% increase. As a result, the cumulative number of units registered in the first quarter of 2023 rose by 43,2% to 320 987.

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) had another strong month in March, with sales increasing by 38,1% to 264 694 units. This growth was primarly due to double-digit increases in the EU’s four key markets, particularly Spain (+75,3%) and Italy (+47,8%). Consequently, HEVs reached a market share of 24,3%, up by 1,6% from an already impressive March 2022 (22,7%).

After negative growth in the first two months of 2023, the EU market for plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) posted a modest 4,3% growth in March following improved sales in three of the four largest markets: Spain (+80,1%), France (+34,5%), and Italy (+23,1%).

Conversely, the German market retracted by 38,5%. As a result, despite increases in some key markets, the overall EU PHEV market share is losing ground to other vehicle segments, declining by 1,6% from 8,8% in March 2022 to 7,2% in 2023.

All-in-all, electrified cars (battery electric, plug-in hybrid, and hybrid) now already account for almost half (45,4%) of all the newly registered cars in March 2023.

In the so-called EFTA markets (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland), the BEVs regressed by 2,4% in Q1, mostly due to a 9,6% decrease in Norway, the biggest EV market, although the electric sales in March were growing again. The PHEVs decreased by 14,4%, and the HEVs grew by more than a quarter (+26,3%).

In the UK, we see the same tendencies as in the EU for the first three months. BEVs were up 18,8%, PHEVs increased by 6,7%, and HEVs by 27,7%.

Gasoline not dead yet

In March 2023, new registrations of gasoline cars in the EU grew significantly (+29,9%), now representing a market share of 37,5% (up 0,4% from March 2022). This growth was mainly concentrated in four key markets: Spain (+82%), Italy (+45,5%), France (+24,4%), and Germany (+22,8%).  As a result, nearly 1 million gasoline cars were sold in the first quarter of 2023, representing an 18,6% year-on-year increase.

The EU diesel car market also performed better in March compared to 2022 (+11,8%), mainly sustained by three of the bloc’s most important markets: Italy (+38,2%), Spain (+21%), and Germany (+7,8%). Nevertheless, diesel cars only represent 14,5% of the EU market share, down 1,1% from March 2022.

When we add up gasoline and diesel cars, they still resulted in a 52% market share last month. There was a slight increase in gasoline cars (+1,5%) in the EFTA countries but quite a surge (+18,4%) in the UK. In both regions, diesel regressed further, -13,2% in EFTA and -17% in the UK.

By brand

Nearly all major manufacturers in the EU have sold better during Q1 2023. However, the hierarchy remains unchanged; Volkswagen Group is leading the pack and has increased its sales by 22,8% to 680 787 units in these first three months, with a 25,7% market share (+1%).

Stallantis remains number two, with 511 910 sales (+11,3%), representing a 19,3% market share (-1,2%). Recovering Renault Group is third, increasing its sales by 27,2% to 285 688 and increasing its market share from 10 to 10,8%.

Fourth is the Hyundai Group, which sold more cars (219 464, +4,7%) but saw its market share diminish by 1% to 8,3%. Finally, the Toyota Group occupies the fifth place, with 192 869 cars sold in Q1 (+19,8%) and a slightly increased market share (7,3%, up 0,1%).

When we look at the premium car manufacturer groups, BMW Group (sixth overall) sold 164 963 vehicles in Q1 (+6,7%) but regressed in market share (from 6,9 to 6,2%). On the other hand, Mercedes sold 153 009 cars in the same period (+16,05%) but saw its market share shrink very lightly from 5,9 to 5,8%.

Noticeable best-sellers in the smaller companies are Tesla (+88,2%), Nissan (+36,2%), Mazda (+42%), Suzuki (+24,7%), and the Jaguar Land Rover Group (+49,1%). The latter is entirely due to the success of the Land Rover part of the business (+69,1%), while Jaguar was one of the scarce overall sales losers (-8,9%). Other companies regressing were Ford (-1,8%), Honda (-30,2%), and Mitsubishi (-38,2%).