Car sales tipped for 2023 recovery
New analysis is predicting that car sales in Europe could rebound slightly in 2023.
According to Bloomberg Intelligence, car sales will suffer a third year of annual decline in 2022, but could recover in 2023 as supply constraints ease.
Gillian Davis, industry analyst (Autos), said: “European car sales climbed 17% in December, based on our analysis, but five straight months of growth are unlikely to prevent a third consecutive year of decline. Easy year-earlier comparisons, fewer supply chain hurdles and pent-up demand boosted registrations last month.
“BMW and Stellantis have highlighted weakening order intake in Europe, amid tightening consumer budgets on inflation and rising interest rates, just as supply-chain constraints have eased. That suggests the excess demand vs supply imbalance – a critical driver of pricing since 2H20 helping automakers counter volume declines and maintain or improve profit margin – could reverse in 2023 as auto output picks up.”
Its analysis found that despite the sales in 2022, battery electric vehicles (BEV) have remained on an upward trend, comprising 16.3% of the sales mix in November and 12% year to date.
