Passenger car registrations: +11.5% in February, battery electric 12.1% market share

Most EU markets showed strong growth, including the four largest ones, with Spain and Italy experiencing the most significant increases (+19.2% and +17.4% respectively).

In the first two months of the year, the EU market reached almost 1.6 million new cars registered, up 11.4% from the previous year, thanks to double-digit increases in both January and February. Looking at the four major EU markets, Spain (+32.1%) and Italy (+18.2%) saw the highest gains, followed by France (+9.1%). German car registrations remained flat (+0.2%) during this two-month period.

Fuel types of new cars

In February, there was a rise in the number of battery electric and hybrid cars registered in the EU, now representing 12.1% and 25.5% of the market respectively. However, petrol remained the top choice for newly-registered cars in the EU, with a market share of 36.9%.

Electric cars

Last month, new battery electric vehicle (BEV) registrations in the EU increased by 39.7% to reach 97,300 cars, resulting in a market share of 12.1%, compared to 9.7% in February 2022. Except for the Czech Republic (-3.2%) and Slovakia (-28.2%), all markets in the region contributed to this growth with double- and triple-digit percentage gains, including the three largest ones: Germany (+14.7%), France (+45.7%), and the Netherlands (+88.9%).

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) also had a strong month, with sales increasing by 22.3% to 204,883 units. This growth was largely sustained by double-digit gains in the region’s four key markets: Spain (+31.8%), France (+24.6%), Germany (+24.2%) and Italy (+23.9%). As a result, HEVs achieved a market share of 25.5%, up from 23.3% in February 2022.

By contrast, registrations of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) in the EU decreased by 7.4% to 57,569 cars sold. This decline was mainly due to a significant drop in German sales
(-44.8%), following the end of subsidies for plug-in hybrids in 2022.

Petrol and diesel cars

In February 2023, registrations of new petrol cars in the EU rose by 11.1%, holding a market share of 36.9%, which is on par with the share recorded in 2022. Spain (+19.0%), Italy (+16.3%), Germany (+8.9%) and France (+7.7%) all contributed to this growth.

On the other hand, the diesel car market in the EU continued to decline (-8.4%), despite increases in some Central European markets like Poland (+18.9%) and the Czech Republic (+12.4%), as well as in Italy (+2.2%). This resulted in a market share of 15.0%, down 3.2 percentage points from February 2022.

In the first two months of the year, the EU market reached almost 1.6 million new cars registered, up 11.4% from the previous year, thanks to double-digit increases in both January and February.