The positive trend in the European auto market also continued in August, the thirteenth consecutive month of growth in registrations, with 904,509 vehicles registered, equal to +20.7% compared to the figure of 749,388 in August 2022 (but still -16% compared to August 2019). In the first eight months, the positive balance is +17.9% with 8,516,943 registrations, compared to 7,226,618 in January-August 2022 (-21.4% compared to the same period in 2019). The following findings stem from the most recent survey conducted by UNRAE (National Union of Foreign Motor Vehicle Representatives).
In the month of August, all five Major Markets grew: Italy recorded +11.9%, but Germany had the best performance with +37.3%, followed by the United Kingdom with +24.4%, and France at +24.3%. Finally, Spain ended with +7.8%. In the first eight months, however, the most significant growth was in Spain with +20.5%, followed by Italy with +20.2%, the United Kingdom with +20.0%, France with +16.6% and Germany with +16.5%. In terms of number of registrations, Italy occupies fourth place, both in August and over the eight months.
As regards ‘plug-in’ cars (ECV), the Italian market in August still stands out as bringing up the rear among the five markets, with a partially recovering share of 9.1% in total, i.e. 5.0% for BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicle) and 4.1% for PHEVs (Plug In Hybrid), very different from Germany (BEV at 31.7% and PHEV at 5.3%, with these in sharp decline due to the exclusion from incentives starting in January), but also from France (BEV 17.3% and PHEV 8.4%), the United Kingdom (BEV 20.1% and PHEV 7.7%), and Spain (BEV 6.4% and PHEV 6.0%). In the total European market in August, BEVs amounted to 21.7% (+8.7 points) while PHEVs were at 7.5% (-0.8 points).
The picture was also the same in the first eight months, where Italy is last with a share of BEVs at 3.9% and PHEVs 4.6%, while in Germany BEVs are at 18.6% and PHEVs at 5.6 %, in France BEVs 15.4% and PHEVs 8.9%, in the United Kingdom BEVs 16.4% and PHEVs 6.8%, and in Spain BEVs 4.8% and PHEVs 6.3%. In the total European market, BEVs have a 15.1% market share (+3.5 points) and PHEVs 7.4% (-0.9 points).
Even the most conservative estimates indicate that by 2040, approximately three-quarters (75%) of new car sales worldwide will be fully electric. The way forward is therefore clear.