EU new car registrations inch up in 2024 as Spain boosts figures

EU new car registrations edged up slightly by 0.8% in 2024 to approximately 10.6 million units. This was mainly driven by robust registration numbers in Spain, which jumped 7.1%. 

However, other key European markets struggled last year, with new car registrations in Germany dropping 1%, while France saw a decrease of 3.2%. Italian new car registration numbers also fell 0.5%. 

This was mainly because of ongoing supply chain disruptions in France, as well as changing consumer preferences. In Germany, continuing semiconductor shortages contributed to a fall in registration numbers. 

New EU car registrations in December increased by 5.1%, in contrast with the 1.9% drop seen in the previous month. Spanish new car registrations soared 28.8% in December, while France also experienced a boost of 1.5%. 

On the other hand, new car registrations in Germany continued to be sluggish, falling 7.1%, along with Italy, where registration numbers dropped 4.9%. 

Battery-electric vehicle (BEV) registrations made up 13.6% of new car registrations in 2024, with hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) accounting for 30.9% of all registrations.

Sigrid de Vries, the director general of ACEA, said in an email note: “At a time when we need scale more than ever to help the industrial and market transition to green mobility, these numbers remain a cause for concern.

“It is expected that the overall market share of electric cars will continue to stagnate in 2025, bringing the risk of high penalties for non-compliance for EU manufacturers. We count on the Strategic Dialogue with the European Commission next week to find an urgent solution to the disproportionate compliance burden caused by the sluggish demand.”

Petrol vehicles remained the most popular choice in 2024

EU registrations of new petrol cars accounted for 33.3% of total registrations for the full year 2024, while new diesel car registrations accounted for 11.9%. 

However, in December, petrol car registrations fell by 1.8%, across the bloc with Spain being the only key EU market to show resilience, with a growth of 16%.

France faced the largest decline, with new petrol car registrations plunging by 23%, along with Italy, where registrations dropped 11.4%. Germany also saw a fall of 7.4%.

A total of 269,260 new petrol cars were registered in December, bringing the petrol car market share down to 29.6% for the month, in contrast with 31.6% in December 2023. 

Similarly, the diesel car market share came up to 9.8% in December, which was a drop of 15% compared with the same month the previous year. 

Battery-electric vehicle (BEV) registrations fall in December

Battery electric car registrations dropped by 10.2% in December, accounting for 144,367 units, with a market share of 15.9%. This was primarily because of large declines in German registrations, which plunged 38.6%, as well as French registrations, which dropped 20.7%. 

On the other hand, plug-in hybrid car registrations increased 4.9% in December, boosted by French registrations which jumped 44.9%, as well as German registrations, which grew 6.8%.

One of the main reasons for dampened battery electric car registrations in December is the EU imposing increased tariffs on imports from Chinese electric vehicle companies, such as Geely, SAIC and BYD. 

This has been done following increased concerns about the Chinese government subsidising the Chinese companies therefore allowing them to sell their products at far lower prices than European manufacturers. 

However, the current tariffs do not cover hybrid vehicles, which has led several of those companies to focus more on their hybrid offerings, in an attempt to regain their European market share. 

Europeans are also holding back from buying new cars as concerns about the cost of living continue to have an impact.