For the first time ever, people in the European Union bought more fully electric cars than diesel cars in the month of June, figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) revealed on Wednesday.
With 158,252 registrations, new all-electric passenger cars acquired a 15.1% market share in June. However, petrol cars retained the largest share, accounting for 36.3%.
"In June, the battery-electric car market share surged from 10.7% to 15.1%, overtaking diesel share for the first time," ACEA said in a press release. "Hybrid-electric cars remained the second-most popular choice among new car buyers, representing 24.3% of the market."
In contrast, the EU market for diesel cars continued to decline (-9.4%) last month, despite growth in Germany and Central European markets. Diesel cars now represent a market share of 13.4% – down from 17.4% in June last year.
Credit: Belga/Dirk Waem
In total, more than 5.4 million new passenger cars were registered in the EU during the first half of 2023 – 18% more than in the same period in 2022.
"Progress in recent months suggests that the European automotive industry is recovering from the supply chain disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic," the ACEA said. "However, the summed figures are still 21% lower than in 2019."
The Volkswagen group (VW, Audi, Skoda) was the frontrunner, with a 26.1% market share in the first half of the year. Second was Stellantis (Peugeot, Opel, Fiat,) with an 18.8%% market share, and the Renault group (Renault, Dacia) with 11.1%.
In Belgium, 264,475 new passenger cars were registered in the first half of the year, over 35% more than in the first half of 2022.
