Negative month of March for the 2024 European car market. According to the data communicated by ACEA there was a drop in registrations in the European Union of 5.2%. Overall there were 1,031,875 registrations against 1,089,017 in 2023. If we also include the United Kingdom and EFTA countries, the decline in the month is reduced to 2.8% (1,383,410 registrations against 1,423,222).
Going back to March 2024, all major EU car markets are downi: Germany (-6.2%), Spain (-4.7%), Italy (-3.7%) and France (-1.5%). Looking at the numbers of first quarter, car registrations increased by 4.4%, reaching almost 2.8 million units. The 4 main EU markets performed well, showing growth in the quarter: Italy and France with +5.7%, Germany with +4.2% and Spain with 3.1%.
In March 2024, the electric cars obtained a share of 13% against 13.9% the previous year, while hybrid electric cars rose to 29% from 24.4%. Petrol and diesel combined captured less than half the market (47.8%, up from 51.8%).
Going into more detail, in the European Union the Registrations of BEV models decreased by 11.3% to 134,397 units. Among the three largest markets for electric vehicles, Belgium (+23.8%) and France (+10.9%) performed well. Bad, however Germany with a decline of 28.9%. However, the first quarter of 2024 ended positively with a total of 332,999 new electric cars registered, equal to an increase of 3.8% compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
Despite the general decline in the market, the hybrids did well, with an increase in registrations of 12.6%. France and Italy, two of the three largest markets for HEVs, recorded increases of 29.6% and 8.3% respectively. In Germany, however, hybrids achieved -0.3%. Overall, 299,426 cars were registered.
Plug-in registrations are decreasing. In March, 73,029 PHEVs were sold, representing a decline of 6.5% and a market share of 7.1%. In Germany and Belgium, drops of 4.5% and 15.3% respectively were recorded. In France, however, sales increased by 3.6%.
Registrations of petrol models are also bad with a decline of 10.2%, with major declines in most EU markets, including France (-17.7%), Spain (-10.1%) and Germany (-3.4%). In contrast, Italy recorded growth, with an increase of 5.7%. The market share in the month is therefore 35.4% compared to 37.4% in the previous year.
Diesel cars did even worse, with a decline that reached 18.5%. The main EU markets were all negative: France (-32.1%), Spain (-38%), Italy (-27.6%) and Germany (-0.5%). Diesel car sales totaled 128,227 units, or one 12.4% market share, down from 14.4% last year. Now let’s get to the results major automotive groups.
The Volkswagen Group closed with a decline of 0.9% (Volkswagen -7.6%; Skoda -2%; Audi -25.6%; Seat -5.2%; Cupra +1.4%; Porsche +20 ,5%). Followed by Stellantis with -12.6% (Peugeot -18.1%; Fiat -9.3%; Opel -20.9%; Citroen -1.7%; Jeep -0.4%; DS -22, 2%; Alfa Romeo -9.1%; Lancia/Chrysler -3.8%) and the Renault Group with a decline of 2.1% (Renault -1.2%; Dacia -3.6%; Alpine +143 ,4%).
