In June 2024, new car registrations in the European Union rose by 4.3%, fueled by growth in three of the region’s four largest markets: Italy (+15.1%), Germany (+6.1%), and Spain (+2.2%), according to the new ACEA report. Conversely, France experienced a 4.8% decrease in registrations last month.

The document shows that the EU saw a 4.5% increase in new car registrations, totaling nearly 5.7 million units, over the first half of 2024. Despite this growth, registration numbers are still 18% below pre-pandemic levels. All of the largest markets in the EU showed positive growth, albeit modest: Spain (+5.9%), Germany (+5.4%), Italy (+5.4%), and France (+2.8%).

EU car registrations by power wource

In June, battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) comprised 14.4% of the EU car market, down from 15.1% the previous year. Meanwhile, hybrid-electric vehicles saw an increase in their market share, rising from 24.4% to 29.5%. The combined share of petrol and diesel vehicles dropped to 47.1%, down from 49.6%.

Electric vehicles

In June 2024, the number of battery-electric vehicles registered fell by 1% to 156,408 units, reducing their market share to 14.4% from 15.1%. Significant growth in Belgium (+50.4%) and Italy (+117.4%) was not enough to counterbalance the double-digit declines in other major markets: Germany (-18.1%), the Netherlands (-15%), and France (-10.3%). Consequently, a total of 712,637 new BEVs were registered in the first half of the year, a slight 1.3% increase from the same period the previous year, accounting for 12.5% of the market.

Registrations of plug-in hybrid vehicles saw a sharp decline of 19.9% in June, with notable drops in Belgium (-49.2%), France (-21.7%), and Germany (-3.4%). Plug-in hybrids made up 6.1% of the total car market in June, down from 7.9% last year, with 66,482 units sold.

Hybrid-electric vehicles were the only powertrain category to experience growth, with registrations rising by 26.4% in June to 321,959 units. All four of the largest markets for this segment recorded double-digit increases: France (+34.9%), Italy (+27.2%), Spain (+23%), and Germany (+16.5%). This increase boosted the market share of hybrid-electric vehicles to 29.5%, up from 24.4% in June 2023.

Petrol and diesel vehicles

In June 2024, petrol car sales remained relatively stable with a slight decrease of 0.7%. Declines in key markets such as France (-20.2%) and Spain (-7.5%) were offset by growth in Germany (+12.1%) and Italy (+6.9%). As a result, petrol cars now make up 34.4% of the market, down from 36.2% in June last year. The diesel car market saw a similar trend, with a minor decline of 0.9%, resulting in a 12.7% market share in June. While Germany saw an increase of 12.4%, other major markets like Italy (-18.3%), France (-8.3%), and Spain (-2.1%) experienced declines.