EVs buck declining registration trend
Electric vehicles continue to buck the downward trend as European registrations of electrified vehicles (BEV, PHEV, HEV) passed 100,000 in March for the first time ever while registrations of diesel and petrol both fell.
Last month, 19 of 27 markets posted negative results – including the top 10 largest markets in Europe. Total registrations fell 3.6%, while diesel making up 31%, its lowest share since September 2000.
While overall demand may be on the decline, the good news is that the electrification shift continues at pace, with a total of 125,400 new registrations. Demand was up by 31% – mostly driven by German, Norwegian, Spanish and Dutch registrations. Electric and plug-in hybrids counted for almost half of that total, but the real driver of growth was the BEV, whose registrations increased by 85%.
Felipe Munoz, JATO’s global analyst, commented, ‘It was always going to be a challenge to maintain the growth rate we’ve seen in recent years thanks to recent events such as WLTP and legislation around diesel, as well as the impending CO2 targets. Despite the negative trend we’ve been seeing since September last year, the market is still strong in terms of volume and offer. In fact, a slow-down after many years of growth is not bad at all.’
