The number of new cars registered in the European Union (EU) rose by 13.9% in 2023 compared to the previous year, latest figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) show.
Over 10.5 million new vehicles were sold over the course of 2023. All EU countries saw an increase in registrations with the exception of Hungary, which experienced a 3.4% drop. Bulgaria (+31.5%), Croatia (+31.3%), and Belgium (+30.1%) observed the highest upswings, significantly overtaking the largest markets of Italy (+18.9%), Spain (+16.7%), France (+16.1%), and Germany (+7.3%).
Electric cars played a discernible role in this advance, taking up 14.6% of the market share in 2023 and peaking at 18.5% in December. This translates to 1.5 million units sold annually, a 37% increase from 2022.
Tesla, an all-electric vehicle manufacturer, witnessed a notable growth by this measure, with an 89.2% rise in sales.
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Hybrid cars followed closely, representing 25.8% of newly registered vehicles – approximately 2.7 million units – a growth of 29.5% compared to 2022. Meanwhile, plug-in hybrids continued to decline, settling at a 7.7% market share.
Petrol-powered vehicles remained the most popular choice, with 35.3% or 3.7 million of the cars sold in the EU in 2023, despite a slight decrease of 1.1 percentage points from the previous year.
Diesel-engine vehicles were the least popular of the primary choices, falling behind electric with a 13.6% market share, down from 16.4% in 2022. Still, 1.4 million new diesel cars were registered throughout the year.
