2024.01.1808:15:00UTC+00European Car Registrations Fall On Weak German Market Performance

Europe's passenger car sales declined for the first time in 17 months in December due to the sharp fall in demand in Germany, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, or ACEA, said Thursday.

Car registrations decreased 3.3 percent from a year ago to 867,052 units, the Brussels-based lobby said.

This was the first month of contraction after 16 consecutive months of growth. Sales had advanced 6.7 percent in November.

The drop in December can be attributed to the high baseline performance in the same month of 2022.

There were notable increases in France and Spain, while the German car market shrank sharply by 23.0 percent.

Sales grew 14.5 percent in France and 10.6 percent in Spain. Italy's car sales rose by 5.9 percent.

In December, the market share of battery-electric cars surged to 18.5 percent, claiming a 14.6 percent share for the full year, surpassing diesel cars, the share of which remained steady at 13.6 percent.

Due to the strong base of comparison and a significant downturn in Germany, new battery-electric car sales slid 16.9 percent in December.

Nonetheless, the overall volume for the full year surpassed 1.5 million units.

Hybrid-electric car sales advanced 26.0 percent, while sales of plug-in hybrid electric cars plunged 40.2 percent.

The petrol car market grew 5.1 percent in December. By contrast, the diesel car market continued its downward trajectory in December, contracting 9.1 percent.

In the whole year of 2023, the EU car market logged a strong 13.9 percent expansion from 2022, hitting a full-year sales volume of 10.5 million units.