Italy goes against the trend thanks to ecobonus
The European car market remains relatively weak even if registrations show a positive signal again: according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), 1,310,989 cars were registered in Europe (EFTA countries and the UK) in June, up 3.6% from the same month last year. This brings the total for the semester to 6,879,438, up 4.4% from the same period last year, but still down by as much as 18.4% from before the pandemic.
Battery electric vehicles accounted for 14.4% of the European Union market in June 2024, up from 15.1% in the previous year. A total of 712,637 new battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were registered in the first half of the year. This means a modest 1.3% growth compared to the same period last year and represents 12.5% of the entire European car market.
At the same time, sales of hybrid electric vehicles are going well, with their market share increasing from 24.4% to 29.5%. Instead of opting for electric vehicles, where the supply of fuel-efficient models remains limited, buyers have turned more towards hybrid models (+22.3% in the first half of 2024). On the other hand, the overall share of gasoline and diesel vehicles fell from 49.6% to 47.1% in June.
In Germany, electric vehicle registrations fell by 18.1% in June, the Netherlands saw a 15% drop, and in France the decline was -10.3%. However, sales of electric cars in Italy continued to grow: ecobonuses for new purchases were launched on June 3, with the share of electric vehicles nearly doubling from 4.4% in June 2023 to 8.4% over the same period in 2024.
During a press conference, Gian Primo Quagliano, president of the Promotor research center, stated that “doubts are beginning to spread about the brilliant future of electric vehicles, and therefore it seems necessary and urgent that the European Union, with its new bodies, institutions, say a clear and definite word about the policies they intend to pursue regarding sustainable mobility.”
And that’s because the elimination of electric vehicle purchase aid in some European countries, including Germany, the largest market on the Old Continent, has stalled progress. US brand Tesla, the market leader in electric cars with its Model Y, saw its sales in Europe fall by 9.1% in the first half of the year.