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The European car market takes a step back in May and closes with one million and 92,901 registrations, 2.6% less than last year, with a gap of 24.3% compared to May 2019. The performances recorded in the EU, EFTA area and UK contribute to weakening the performance of the sector since the beginning of the year, with just over five and a half million registrations and a recovery compared to last year of 4.6% (-19.7% on the same period of 2019).
The negative trend in May was affected by the slowdown in registrations of electric cars, as Acea itself points out in its monthly press release, which recorded a 10.8% drop in the month compared to the same period of 2023. In Germany in in particular the contraction was 30.6%, in Italy 18.3% – in this case the wait for the incentives, which came into force in June, had a bearing – with a contraction in the share of pure electric vehicles in Europe, which went from 15 .2% to 13.9% in the current period.
In this context, Volkswagen grows in the month by 1.6% and 3.4% from the beginning of the year while Stellantis, the second European group by volumes, marks the pace in May (registrations down by 6.9%) and remains in the period on volumes of 2023. Renault also loses ground while Toyota maintains the plus sign and grows by 22% since the beginning of the year. Registrations decreasing for BMW and Mercedes while the first Chinese group by volumes is Saic Motor, with a market share of 1.5% and a growth of 26% since the beginning of the year while Tesla (1.6% of the market) has been losing since 10% of registrations at the beginning of the year.
Reinhard Zirpel, president of the German Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, highlighted how “the collapse in registrations of fully electric vehicles in May is massive” and that “political plans and countermeasures are now needed to restore consumer confidence in electric mobility ». These are considerations, adds Gian Primo Quagliano, president of the Centro Studi Promotor, «which also apply to Italy which in the ranking for the diffusion of electric cars is not in last place in Western Europe, but it is close. The share of electric vehicles in May was 3.6% against 4.1% in May 2023 and against 13.9% for the whole of Western Europe”.
