New Car Sales in Europe Rise for Fifth Month Helped by EVs

New car sales in Europe rose year-on-year in November for a fifth consecutive month, helped by an increase in EV registrations in markets including Germany, Italy and Spain, data from the European auto lobby ACEA showed on Tuesday.

Battery electric registrations, a proxy for sales, reached a market share of 21 per cent in the European Union, 26 per cent in the United Kingdom and 98 per cent in Norway.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Europe's car industry faces challenges, including competition from China, US import tariffs and difficulties in profitably meeting domestic regulations for EV adoption.

The European Commission last week made public a plan to abandon an effective 2035 ban on combustion engine cars after pressure from the region's auto sector, marking the bloc's biggest retreat from its green policies in recent years.

But analysts said for the longer term, EVs are the future.

BY THE NUMBERS

Sales in the European Union, Britain and the European Free Trade Association rose 2.4 per cent to 1.1 million cars in November, ACEA data showed.

Registrations at Volkswagen and Renault rose 4.1 per cent and 3 per cent year-on-year, respectively, while they fell 2.7 per cent at Stellantis, a drop after three months of growth.

Tesla registrations fell by 11.8 per cent, as record sales in Norway mitigated losses in other markets. They were up 221.8 per cent at its Chinese competitor BYD. Tesla's market share in the month was 2.1 per cent, while BYD's was 2 per cent.

Total EU car sales rose 2.1 per cent to almost 900,000 vehicles. Registrations of battery electric, hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid cars were up 44.1 per cent, 38.4 per cent and 4.2 per cent, respectively, to account collectively for 65.6 per cent of the bloc's registrations, up from 56 per cent in August 2024.

KEY QUOTE

"Despite the recent positive momentum, overall volumes remain well below pre-pandemic levels," the ACEA said in a statement.

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