Electrified registrations overtake diesel in Europe for first time

The registrations of electric, plug-in and hybrid cars were higher than diesel cars across Europe for the first time last month, according to new figures released today.

A report by industry analysts JATO Dynamics highlighted a decrease in demand for petrol and diesel cars, with the latter making up just under 25 per cent of registrations in the European market. Petrol-powered vehicles accounted for 47 per cent of the market, falling from 59 per cent during the same period in 2019.

However, the registrations of electrified vehicles – electric, plug-in hybrid and regular hybrid – rose to 25 per cent of the market last month, with a total of 327,000 units registered throughout Europe during September. It’s more than double the market share recorded in the same period in 2019.

Some 1.3 million cars were registered across the area last month, increasing by just one per cent compared with the same month last year.

Felipe Munoz, global analyst at JATO Dynamics said: “The shift from ICEs to EVs is finally taking place. Although this is largely down to government policies and incentives, consumers are also now ready to adopt these new technologies.”

Last month Volkswagen registered 40,300 electrified vehicles in Europe, positioning it as the second-largest electrified seller behind Toyota.

But the EV segment was still dominated by hybrids and mild hybrids, with the pair representing 53 per cent of total EV registrations. Toyota and Lexus dominated the sector, taking 32 per cent of the market.

However, pure electric demand was led by Tesla despite its overall volume falling by five per cent. Some 15,702 of the firm’s Model 3 cars were registered during the month across Europe, followed up by the Renault Zoe and Volkswagen ID.3 with 11,023 and 7,897 respective sales.

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