By Marleen Kaesebier
(Reuters) -New car sales in Europe rose 4.9% in October as electric cars outpaced petrol and diesel registrations, European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association data showed on Tuesday.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
The European car industry has taken a series of hits this year including U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, a slowdown in the Chinese market, and a slower-than-expected transition to electric vehicles.
Recently, concerns about a potential chip supply chain crisis surrounding Dutch chipmaker Nexperia had also added fuel to the fire.
Meanwhile, Chinese electric car exports to Europe are increasing.
BY THE NUMBERS
Sales in the European Union, Britain and the European Free Trade Association rose to 1.092 million cars in October as its largest markets including Germany and Britain added more new cars than last year, ACEA data showed.
Registrations at Volkswagen, Stellantis and Renault rose year-on-year by 6.5%, 4.6% and 10.6%, respectively. Despite Stellantis’ registrations being down 4.7% year-to-date compared to the same period in 2024.
Tesla’s sales meanwhile dropped 48.5% from a year ago as BYD’s sales jumped 206.8%, now holding 1.6% of the market share from 0.5% in October 2024. Registrations of Chinese-owned SAIC Motor also jumped 35.9% from last year.
Total EU car sales rose 5.8%. Registrations of battery electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid electric cars were up 38.6%, 43.2% and 9.4%, respectively, to account collectively for about 63.9% of the bloc’s registrations, up from 55.4% in October 2024.
All major markets saw drops in their petrol and diesel
Overall sales rose 7.8% in Germany, 0.5% in the UK, 15.9% in Spain, 2.9% in France and fell 0.5% in Italy.
QUOTE
“Despite this recent positive momentum, overall volumes remain far below pre-pandemic levels,” ACEA said.
“The battery-electric car market share reached 16.4% year to date, yet it is still below the pace needed at this stage of the transition,” it added.
(Reporting by Marleen Kaesebier, additional reporting by Emanuele Berro; Editing by Matt Scuffham)
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