Electric cars grow in Europe at the cost of petrol and diesel sales

Demand for electrified cars continued to underpin growth in Europe’s car market in June, offsetting a sharp decline in petrol and diesel sales, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) showed on Thursday.

Growth in car registrations, a proxy for sales, also helped Chinese brands expand their footprint further across the EU, UK and the European Free Trade Association.

The data shows:

• Total car registrations rose 13.1% to 1,407,332 vehicles.
• Battery-electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid car registrations climbed 51%, 22.7% and 17.1% respectively, together accounting for almost 70% of all new vehicles.
• Petrol and diesel car registrations fell 12.2% and 16.9% respectively.
• Chinese carmakers BYD, Chery and Leapmotor sold between almost three and six times more than last year, while SAIC and Geely sales rose more than 50% and 11% respectively.
• Registrations at Renault, Stellantis and Volkswagen rose between 3.6% and 7.3%.

Reuters