[ad_1]
There is good and bad news coming from Europe, depending on whether you prefer combustion or electric power in your vehicle. Last month, new car registrations in the region hit a record low in February with just 794,600 units. That’s down 5.4 percent from a year ago, but 25 percent lower than February 2020 and down 30 percent compared to 2019. Data from JATO shows that last month was the worst for enrollments in at least 42 years.
The reasons are widely known to the public: the scarcity of semiconductors and the impact of the war in Ukraine on the availability of spare parts for car production at European factories. Consumers can’t find a new car to buy.
However, there is a bright spot. Demand for pure electric cars jumped 77 percent during February to 87,400 units, increasing the EV market share to a record 11 percent. That grows to 19.5 percent when a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) registration is included. A year ago, these cars represented 13.4 percent of total registrations, while two years ago, February 2020, their market share was only 6.3 percent.
Tesla One-Two, With a Fiat 500 Surprise
While this is not a quarter-end tally, Tesla leads the battery-electric market with nearly 15,800 units sold, up 188 percent over the same period last year. That’s an 18.1 percent market share against 11.1 percent a year earlier, meaning that the Model Y has paid off and made great headway across Europe. Combined with the Model 3, the two Teslas are the best-selling electric cars for the month of February.
Surprisingly, the third most-registered EV is the Fiat 500 with 3,800 units, an increase of 74 percent. The 500e makes up 38 percent of the total, which isn’t bad for a car of this price category. It is followed by the Kia e-Niro, which has seen an increase in sales over the past few months, although a second-generation model has been revealed. Better deals and years of experience allowed Kia to increase its volume by 29 percent, reaching nearly 3,500 units.
Shakeup Is From Hyundai And Premium Brand
The fifth position is occupied by the Hyundai Ioniq 5, a very impressive appearance for a crossover that was only introduced last year. It outperforms rivals such as the Volkswagen ID.4, Skoda Enyaq, Kia EV6, and Volkswagen ID.4 and in fact, with Hyundai and Kia combined, they outperform Volkswagen in the rankings by brand. The German automaker recorded a big drop for ID.3 (down 40 percent) and Up! (down 65 percent), following problems at their production plant.
Among the electric models that were available a year ago, it is really great to see the huge growth posted by some of the models. The Citroen C4 took the lead with a remarkable 221 percent increase, followed by the Audi E-Tron GT with 125 percent. Other notable upgrades include the Mini Hatch electric (92 percent), Mercedes EQC (92 percent), Volvo XC40 (91 percent), Mercedes EQV (+89%), Porsche Taycan (73 percent) and Polestar 2 (72 percent). .
The importance of low emission cars is more evident in some brands than others. For example, the vehicle accounted for 25 percent of Hyundai’s volume in February – the highest percentage among the top 10 best-selling mainstream brands. Followed by Kia (23 percent) and Peugeot (18 percent). In contrast, EVs comprise only 4 percent of Toyota’s figure, 9 percent of Citroen’s, and 10 percent of Skoda’s. Among premium brands, the percentage increased to 32 percent at BMW and 34 percent at Mercedes.
The author of the article, Felipe Munoz, is an Automotive Industry Specialist at JATO dynamics.
[ad_2]
Source link
