12:55 pm, February 16, 2024
European new vehicle registrations hit their highest point since the pandemic last year, thanks to strong demand for electric cars.
That’s according to data specialists and Car Dealer Podcast series sponsor JATO Dynamics, which revealed that registrations rocketed by 14 per cent on the previous year to 12,792,151 units.
Growth was largely driven by strong demand in markets such as the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Belgium, while Germany continued to be the largest market for new vehicles in Europe.
However, higher interest rates had an impact in Germany, with Felipe Munoz, JATO’s global analyst, saying the country experienced ‘lower growth rates’ because of‘declining exports and concerns about the overall health of the economy’.
But he added: ‘Europe’s automotive market appears to be normalising. Supply chain issues are now largely under control, and consumers have become accustomed to waiting longer to receive new vehicles.
‘Despite this, it is unlikely we will see volumes surpass the 15m units recorded in 2019. Purchasing a vehicle has become more expensive, and attitudes to ownership continue to change.’
JATO said a lot of the growth in Europe’s new car market was thanks to electric vehicles, which accounted for 15.7 per cent of the total market share with 2,011,209 registrations – the first time it surpassed tw million units.
That figure nearly equalled the number of diesel cars registered at 2,049,157 units.
The UK’s electric vehicle market ‘remained stable’ during 2023, with a slight drop from 16.6 per cent in 2022 to 16.5 per cent in 2023.
The year was also another big 12 months for Tesla, which outsold established players Nissan and Volvo to register 362,300 vehicles – 52 per cent up on 2022.
Tesla’s Model Y crossover was also the best-selling car in Europe during 2023, shifting 251,604 units (up 84%) and outselling the Dacia Sandero (234,715 – up 18%) and Volkswagen T-Roc (204,610 – up 13%) in second and third place respectively.
