Electric car sales surge 14% in flagging European market

Electric car sales increased by 14% across Europe in September, reversing a period of sustained decline in demand for EVs, but car sales were down across the board. 

Figures from industry analysts Jato Dynamics reveal that 212,197 battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) were registered in September – up from 186,380 in the same month last year. 

Jato attributes the uptick in EV demand to the success of various incentives across the region – France’s EV tax reductions and Italy’s state-backed scrappage scheme, for example – but was cautious on whether the upward trend will be sustained.

“It’s hard to say for certain whether BEVs will continue along this positive trajectory,” said the firm’s global analyst Felipe Muñoz. “But the monthly increase in registrations is welcome news – especially considering that consumers still have reservations about the adoption of electric cars.”

The increase comes amid widespread concern that organic consumer demand for electric cars is lagging well behind the projections that underpin Europe’s regulatory pathway to phasing out combustion engines.

Tough new CO2 limits being imposed by the European Union from 2025 essentially mandate that car manufacturers achieve a 20-25% EV sales mix in the region, on the way to the EU’s goal of ending ICE car sales by 2035.

In the run-up to last month’s uptick, electric car demand had been lagging across Europe, to the extent that most mass manufacturers have extended the lifecycles of key combustion-engined models and adjusted timelines for electrifying their model ranges. 

Mercedes and BMW have confirmed plans to continue investing in combustion engines and platforms in the medium-term, Ford has acknowledged that its plan to go all-EV by 2030 was “too ambitious” and Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo recently called for “flexibility” to be built into the EU’s new emission rules.

“The EV market has been surprisingly dynamic in the past few years, but it doesn’t match the speed that is required to hit what they are asking us to do,” he said in the summer. 

Even factoring in September’s increase, electric vehicles still account for only around one fifth of the market – which, notably, was suppressed overall by 3%, or 40,000 units, year-on-year. 

The figures show that EVs accounted for 17.3% of EU car sales last month, up from 14.8% last year, but electric car sales are down 5.8% year-to-date, and their market share has fallen from 14% to 13.1%. 

Jato’s figures show that Tesla was by some distance the most popular EV brand in Europe, with its Model Y and Model 3 the best-selling electric cars, notching up 28,876 and 14,695 sales respectively. The Model Y was also the region’s best-selling car overall, outpacing the Renault Clio in second and the closely related Dacia Sandero in third. 

Behind the Teslas in the EV chart were the Skoda Enyaq with 9503 sales, then the Volvo EX30 with 7266. Volkswagen’s ID 4, ID 7 and ID 3 were next, followed by the BMW iX1, Mercedes-Benz EQA and Audi Q4 E-tron.

Europe’s automotive industry body the ACEA has revealed that car sales (excluding LCVs) dropped significantly in three out of the four biggest European markets: German sales dipped by 7%, Italy was down 10.7% and France’s sales plummeted by 11.1%.

A significant factor in the downturn was a 17.9% decline in the sales of petrol cars, taking them from a 34% market share to 29.8% – behind hybrids, which had a 32.8% share. 

But Jato also cites the multi-brand Stellantis group’s huge 25% sales dip – representing nearly 50,000 units – as “largely responsible” for the decline.

The company posted declines in 22 of the 28 EU counties, most substantial in Italy (34%) and France (17%), its biggest markets.

Jato’s figures show that Citroën sales plummeted by 41% and Opel/Vauxhall was down by 24% – but Fiat was the worst-performing Stellantis brand, with a decline of 43%.

The Italian brand has extended a production pause for the electric Fiat 500e due to low demand and has paused production of the big-selling Panda supermini at its plant in Mirafiori, near Turin. 

Jato’s Muñoz said: “Stellantis may see these results as an indicator that the time has come to refresh its offering and reposition its BEV line-up to ensure the downward trend doesn’t continue.”

Last month, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares appointed Alfa Romeo boss Jean-Philippe Imparato as the new chief operating officer of Stellantis in Europe, replacing Uwe Hochgeschurtz, as part of a move “to drive simplification and enhance organisational performance in a turbulent global environment”.