European New-Car Market Slows in August as BEV Sales Crash

Car registrations in Europe continue to cause automotive industry concern as August records the market slumping 18.3% year-on-year, with battery-electric vehicles diving 43.9%.

Overall, the message is one of consumers targeting gas-hybrid powered vehicles but dramatically shunning BEVs and cooling also on plug-in hybrids and cars with internal-combustion powertrains.

The latest report from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Assn. (ACEA) shows BEV registrations fell to just 92,627 units compared to 165,204 in August 2023.

Their total market share also slips to 14.4% from 21% a year earlier, raising the specter that automakers will miss BEV lobbying group Transport & Environment's prediction of a market share of between 20%-24% next year based on cheaper product availability.

The ACEA says this has been driven by the “spectacular drop” in the two biggest BEV markets with Germany losing 68.8% of new registrations and France 33.1%. From January to August, 902,011 new battery-electric cars were registered, representing 12.6% of the market.

Plug-in hybrid car registrations also see a decrease of 22.3% in August, with declines recorded in all major markets. Last month PHEVs accounted for 7.1% of the total car market, down from 7.4% last year, with 45,590 units sold.

Conversely, the only bright spot in the market is self-charging hybrid vehicles which see new-car registrations rising 6.6% to 201,552 units. Three of the four largest markets for this segment recorded gains with Spain up 12.6%, France rising 12.5% and Italy with a 2.5% increase. These hybrid registrations raise the technology’s market share to 31.3%, up from 24% in August 2023.

Meanwhile, internal-combustion-engine vehicles see declines in both gasoline- and diesel-fueled cars.

Gasoline car registrations dropped 17.1% as all four key markets recorded significant declines with France down 36.6%, Italy losing 18.8%, Spain off 17.4% and Germany down 7.4%. Gasoline cars now represent 33.1% of the market, up from 32.6% in August last year.

Diesel cars continue their decline as more urban clean-air zones are being rolled out across Europe. The sector sees a decline of 26.4%, resulting in an 11.2% share of the market in August. Double-digit decreases were observed in almost all European markets.