EU new car registrations fall in December as EV sales sink

Car sales in Europe fell year-on-year in December after 16 straight months of growth with new battery-electric car sales declining for the first time since the onset of the Covid pandemic.

New car registrations across the European Union totalled 867,052 last month, 3.3% below December 2022, which the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) put down to a strong baseline comparator the year before.

This followed annual growth of 6.7% in November and 14.6% in October.

Battery-electric car sales were down 16.9% at 160,700 units in December, falling for the first time since April 2020, with the ACEA noting a 47.6% plunge in sales in Germany, the largest EU market for fully electric cars.

New EU registrations of hybrid-electric cars surged by 26%, the number of plug-in hybrids sold dropped 40.2%, while the petrol car market grew by 5.1%.

For the whole year, however, new car sales across the EU rose by 13.9% to hit 10.5m units, with every market except Hungary registering growth. New battery-electric car sales surpassed 1.5m units, a substantial 37% increase compared to 2022, with its share of the total market rising to 14.6% from 12.1%.