Europe Car Sales Continue Strong Growth On Robust EV Demand: ACEA

(RTTNews) - The European passenger car market logged further strong expansion in registrations in May amid sharp increases in the four major markets in the region along with robust demand for electric vehicles, monthly data from the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, or ACEA, showed on Wednesday.

New car sales in the European Union rose 18.5 percent year-on-year in May, following a 17.2 percent growth in April, the ACEA said.

The number of units sold totaled 938,950 in May versus 792,215 units in the corresponding month last year. Further, this was the tenth successive monthly increase.

Battery electric car registrations logged a massive annual growth of 70.9 percent to reach 129,847 units in May, equaling the market share of 13.8 percent. Most EU markets recorded impressive double- and triple-digit percentage gains.

In May, hybrid electric cars also retained strong growth momentum, rising by 27.6 percent to 234,380 units.

However, petrol cars still have the largest share at 36.5 percent. In contrast, the EU diesel car market shrunk by 2.9 percent.

Data showed that new plug-in-hybrid cars declined slightly by 0.6 percent, primarily due to a lethargic German car market.

Among the four major markets, all logged double-digit annual growth in May except Spain. Italy recorded the biggest expansion in sales with a 23.1 percent surge, followed by Germany with a 19.2 percent expansion.

In France, sales growth was 14.8 percent, while the Spanish car market showed a comparatively slower rise of 8.3 percent.

During the first four months of this year, total new car sales grew 18.0 percent to 4.4 million.

Although the market improved in May, year-to-date sales are still 23 percent lower compared to the same month in 2019, when 5.7 million units were registered, the ACEA said.