Hybrid Car Sales Barely Keep Europe's 2024 Registrations PositiveHybrid Car Sales Barely Keep Europe's 2024 Registrations Positive

European demand for hybrid-powered vehicles made them the only powertrain segment to register a year-on-year increase in registrations for 2024.

Market data compiled by Jato Dynamics shows the overall auto market in Europe rose just 0.9% last year and has shrunk by 2.9 million units since the start of the global pandemic in 2020.

Jato attributes the slight increase to an increasing consumer appetite for hybrid vehicles, which saw year-on-year growth of 21%, and all carmakers that offered fully hybrid vehicles posted growth last year.

Top of the pile was Toyota which accounted for 738,500 units of its Toyota- and Lexus-branded vehicles out of a total market of 1,529,806 units registered in 2024.  Of the automaker’s total registrations, 75% were hybrid.

Renault Group followed with almost 300,000 units, up 49% year-on-year, while Hyundai-Kia, Nissan and Honda accounted for the rest of the top five.

Volkswagen Group, Stellantis, BMW Group, Mercedes-Benz and Geely were a few of the manufacturers absent from this segment.

Jato suggests hybrids are becoming increasingly attractive compared to the high sticker prices being asked for battery-electric vehicles and continued consumer worries over charging infrastructure.

According to Jato’s recent study, the average retail price of a hybrid available in the Eurozone in 2024 was €42,222 ($43,958), compared to €62,709 ($65,288) for a BEV.

Overall, 2024 was not a positive year for sales of BEVs in Europe, recording a year-on-year decline of 1.2% with 1,985,996 units registered for the year.

Jato analysts point to a lack of clarity about incentives for BEVs exacerbating the other challenges for consumers to make the switch. That said, the organization says it expects BEV sales to improve this year owing to the introduction of cheaper models to be offered by mainstream automakers.

Norway maintained its pole position in 2024, with BEVs holding the largest market share at 88%. It was followed by Denmark with 51%, Sweden at 35% and the Netherlands with 34.7%.

Volkswagen remained the top BEV seller, with more than 427,000 units registered in 2024. Its share of the BEV market fell slightly from 22.2% in 2023 to 21.5% last year and remains below its share of the wider new passenger vehicle market, which stood at 26.1% in 2024.

Tesla followed in second position, despite increased competition from other players and its Model 3 being unable to offset significant losses while consumers waited for the arrival of the new Model Y.

In third place came Stellantis, which remained in the top three BEV producers despite posting a 10% drop in volumes. Elsewhere, BEVs made up a greater part of the sales mix for BMW Group and Geely last year.

The data also shows China’s influence in Europe continues to grow; it was the sixth-largest country of origin for new vehicles registered in Europe last year. Between 2023 and 2024, it outsold the U.K, Turkey, Japan and South Korea.  

At the same time, almost 21% of total new passenger vehicle registrations in the expanded European market came from plants in Germany. However, Germany lost market share to Czechia, the third-largest country of origin for vehicles in Europe, behind Spain.

France ranked fourth, despite volumes from French factories falling 3%, while Romania rounded out the top five.

Tesla’s Model Y sales slumped 17% and was knocked off its 2023 top-selling perch by Renault’s budget brand Dacia Sandero SUV for 2024.

The Sandero's popularity is thought to result from its status as one of the most affordable car models available in Europe. It topped the model ranking in two markets, Spain and Portugal, while it was among the top five best-selling models in France, Italy, Belgium, Austria and Romania.

Felipe Munoz, global analyst at Jato Dynamics, says: “Overall, when you consider the range of challenges facing Europe’s automotive industry, the results for 2024 are not overly negative. However, you would expect any other industry to have shown significant signs of recovery by now and there is very little evidence that the automotive industry will return to the pre-pandemic reality.

"The higher cost of vehicles, the rise of working from home, inflationary pressure on wages and the emergence of new transportation solutions are among the reasons why Europeans have stopped buying brand-new cars.”