European Car Market Continues To Grow: +9.2% In September

The European car market is growing in September. Registrations of new cars in the European Union increased by 9.2% (861,062 units). This is the 14th month with a positive sign. The result was achieved thanks to two important countries of the Union, namely, Italy, where an increase of 22.7% was recorded, and France (+10.7%).

This is reported by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), according to which 8 million vehicles were registered in the first 9 months of 2023 (an increase of 16.9%). However, the market still remains below pre-Covid levels (-20%): from January to September 2019, the number of registrations amounted to 10 million.

During these 3 quarters, all major EU markets grew: Italy (+20.5%), Spain (+18.5%), France (+15.9%), and Germany (+14.5%). The only negative indicator was in Hungary (-3.2%).

In terms of engine types, the market share of battery electric vehicles in September reached 14.8% – 127,149 units. Electric cars outsold diesel cars for the third month in a row, ranking third in preference in a market where 34.1% of cars sold are gasoline (35.3% last year), while hybrid models are second (27.3% of the market).

In the electric vehicle segment, it is worth highlighting the decline in the largest European market, namely Germany (-28.6%), which is likely related to the decrease in incentive measures. However, this reduction was offset by the performance of other countries, in particular the Netherlands (+70.8%), Sweden (+60.7%), and France (+34.2%).