According to monthly figures published by the Association of European Manufacturers (ACEA), diesel represented 14.1% of sales last month, against 13.6% for electric vehicles. Last June, the latter were placed at the top of the podium for the first time.
12th month of growth in a row
After two extremely difficult years, due in particular to the context linked to Covid and a shortage of semiconductors, the automotive sector recorded its twelfth month of growth in a row in July, exceeding 851,000 registrations.
Clear growth was recorded in the four largest markets: +19.9% in France, +18.1% in Germany, +10.7% in Spain and +8.7% in Italy.
For the first seven months of the year, the increase was 17.6%, with 6.3 million new cars sold. The fact remains that this figure is 22% lower than the data for the same period of 2019, that is, before the Covid-19 occurred.
signs of recovery
The automotive industry is showing “signs of recovery after supply disruptions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic”, also welcomes Acea.
The European automotive market has started to grow again in a sustainable way since August 2022, when the health crisis, combined with a shortage of parts including crucial electronic components, had dealt it a very hard blow.
Diesel overtakes electric
Significant element: the diesel is ironed in front of the electric during the month of July! Representing 14.1% of sales last month, compared to 13.6% for vehicles with battery.
Still, gasoline engines remain largely dominant, with 35.8% market share. Between January and July, some 2.3 million petrol cars were sold in the EU (+14% over one year), compared to 910,000 diesels (-3%) and 820,000 electric (+55%). Hybrids reached 1.6 million sales over this period (+29%) and rechargeable hybrids, 468,000 units (+2%).
Tesla sales soar
On the manufacturer side, Tesla experienced the strongest increase in sales in July, recording nearly 14,000 cars (+ 650%).
The fact remains that these figures and this spectacular increase should not make us forget that the volumes recorded by the European automobile giants could imply that they are not playing in the same court…. or at least do not have the same strategy as Elon Musk’s firm, even if it tends to move towards mass production.
The Volkswagen group thus recorded 233,000 units (18%) and Stellantis (144,000 sales, -6.1%). The Renault group saw its sales increase by 17%, to 90,000 registrations.
Sources: ACEA, AFP