Sales of electric vehicles fall in Europe

Sales of battery-powered electric cars in the European Union fell sharply in May, industry data showed on Thursday, as demand in Germany softened notably.

According to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), registrations of battery electric cars fell by 12% last month, to 114,308 units, while their market share eased to 12.5% from 13.8% a year previously.

Across member states, the biggest declines were in the Netherlands, down 11.7%, and Germany, the bloc’s largest economy, which recorded a 30.6% slump.

Just two – Belgium and France – showed an increase in registrations.

In December, Germany ended subsidies for buying EVs as part of its 2024 budget. The country has now seen a 16% decline in EV sales in the year-to-date, the ACEA noted.

European sales of petrol and diesel cars also fell, however, down by 5.6% to 323,551 and 11.4% to 118,733 units respectively.

In total, new car registrations declined 3%. Falls were seen in three of the EU’s four major markets, with registrations down 6.6% in Italy, 4.3% in Germany and 2.9% in France. Spain recorded a 3.4% uptick.

Despite the slump, however, new car registrations rose 4.6% in the first five months of the year, to 4.6m units.

Earlier this month, the European Commission announced plans to impose additional duties on imported Chinese electric vehicles, to help protect domestic manufacturers from cheap competition.

From 4 July, duties of between 17% and 38% will apply, on top of an existing import duty of 10%.

However, Chinese car makers have reportedly called on the authorities to impose import taxes of up to 25% on EU rivals in response. Beijing has already reacted angrily to the hike, and has urged Brussels to scrap it.