Car registrations in Europe plus EFTA and the United Kingdom recorded a decrease of 34.3% compared to the same month of 2019, the year that preceded the pandemic, with contractions in all countries with the sole exception of the very small markets of Ireland, Iceland and Norway. This was underlined by the Centro Studi Promotor which speaks of “a deadly cocktail of negative factors”.
The industry – explains the Csp – is fighting against the shortage of semiconductors which has led to production stops in many plants, while demand is penalized by the pandemic, which is raising its head, by a weakening of consumer confidence, by the increase in inflation and in some countries even by tax increases. Only one light shines: the growth in the market share of pure electric cars and hybrid cars with electric charging plugs. The 5 largest markets Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain were particularly affected. In Germany, registrations, compared to 2019, show a decrease of 37.2% while the share of electric vehicles has reached a new high, reaching 30%. In the UK there was a decline of 25.8% on 2019 and the share of electric cars was 15.2% for pure electric models (Bev) and 7.9% for hybrid models with plug ( Phev). In Spain, the decline was 37.2% on October 2019 with negative results for sales to individuals. France is the one showing the strongest decline (-37.3% on October 2019), while in Italy the shares of pure electric (7% in October 2021) and hybrid with plug (5%) are growing, but the strong contractions in purchases of petrol and diesel cars are benefiting plugless hybrid cars, which use petrol or diesel as fuel. “It is not clear why Italy, which at this moment has exceptional resources, has not so far launched a plan to support the car sector which is in dire straits and which needs very significant interventions to tackle the transition to electricity »explains Gian Primo Quagliano, president of the Promotor Study Center.
In October, despite a negative market, Stellantis was the automotive group that sold the most in Europe (EU + EFTA + UK). With 165,866 registrations it overtook Volksawagen which sold 165,309 cars. The decline for Stellantis compared to the same month of 2020 was 31.6% with a share of 20.8%. On the other hand, sales grew by 3.2% in the first ten months compared to 2020 with a share of 20.4% compared to 20.3%.
