Electric Car Sales Plummet, Hybrids Take the Spotlight!

In a generally sluggish automotive market, the electric transition continues to progress, but in favor of hybrids.

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) released its monthly report on car sales in Europe for November 2024. A more than serious indicator since the ACEA represents the 15 leading European manufacturers of cars, vans, trucks, and buses: BMW Group, DAF Trucks, Daimler Truck, Ferrari, Ford of Europe, Honda Motor Europe, Hyundai Motor Europe, Iveco Group, JLR, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Renault Group, Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen Group, and Volvo Group.

In November 2024, new car registrations in the European Union fell by 1.9%. France led the decline with a sharp drop of 12.7%, followed by Italy (-10.8%), while the German market remained relatively stable (-0.5%). Among the four largest EU markets, only Spain experienced positive growth (6.4%).

Since the beginning of 2024, new car registrations have remained stable (+0.4%), totaling 9.7 million units. While the Spanish market performed positively (+5.1%), declines were observed in France (-3.7%), Germany (-0.4%), and Italy (-0.2%).

Registrations of battery-electric vehicles decreased by 9.5%, reaching 130,757 units in November 2024. This decline was primarily driven by significant drops in registrations in Germany (-21.8%) and France (-24.4%). As a result, the market volume since the beginning of the year is 5.4% lower than the same period last year, with the total market share now at 13.4%.

Registrations of plug-in hybrid vehicles fell by 8.8% last month, after significant declines in France (-19.6%), Belgium (-61.4%), and Italy (-31.4%). In November, plug-in hybrids represented 7.6% of the automotive market, compared to 8.1% last year. Volumes since the beginning of the year have also decreased, down 8% compared to the same period last year.

The biggest winners are therefore non-rechargeable hybrids, whose sales soared by 18.5% in November, with a market share rising to 33.2%, compared to 27.5% last November, surpassing gasoline car registrations for the third consecutive month. In November 2024, sales of gasoline cars dropped by 7.8%. The four main markets all reported declines: France experienced the largest decrease, with a 31.5% drop in registrations, followed by Italy with a 12.3% decline. Although more modest, Germany and Spain also saw decreases (-5.4% and -2.3%, respectively). With 266,115 new cars registered last month, the market share of gasoline vehicles fell to 30.6%, compared to 32.5% in the same month last year. The diesel car market decreased by 15.3%, bringing its share to 10.6% in November. Overall, declines were observed across most EU markets.

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