Sales of electric vehicles in the European Union (EU) exceeded the 20% share for the first time last August, according to information provided by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).
Last August, despite being a traditionally lower sales month, the EU car market expanded by 21% to 787,626 units registered, indicating that the 27-nation bloc’s market is recovering from last year’s component shortage, ACEA said.
“From January to August 2023, new car registrations in the EU grew substantially (17.9%), totaling 7.1 million units, but still far from the 9 million units sold by this time in 2019, before the pandemic,” notes a report by EFE news agency.
Growth in Numbers
According to the report, most markets experienced double-digit percentage gains in this eight-month period, including the four largest: Spain (20.5%), Italy (20.2%), France (16.6%) and Germany (16.5%).
In August, the market share of battery-electric vehicles exceeded 20% for the first time (up from 11.6% in August last year), putting them ahead of diesel for the second time this year and making them the third most popular choice among new car buyers.
Read also: Geotab: “There is a Remarkable Transition in Electric Vehicle Adoption”
Hybrid-electric vehicles maintained their position as the second choice of buyers, with a 24% market share.
While gasoline vehicles remain the most popular choice, the market share decreased from 38.7% in August last year to 32.7%.
The diesel car market continued its decline in August (-6%) and now has a market share of 12.5%, down from 16.1% in August last year.
