EU BEV sales up again in third quarter
The market share of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the EU increased further during the third quarter of this year.
BEVs now account for 11.9% of total EU passenger car registrations (up from 9.8% in Q3 2021). Hybrid electric vehicles also gained market share –making up 22.6% of all sales (up from 21.2% in the third quarter of 2021). Despite losing market share, diesel- and petrol-powered vehicles still dominate the market, with a combined share of 54.3%.
From July to September 2022, registrations of petrol cars in the EU slipped by 3.3%, counting 823,360 units. As a result, the market share of petrol shrank from 39.3% in the third quarter of 2021 to 37.8% this year. Nonetheless, petrol remained the most popular fuel type in the EU.
Similarly, sales of diesel cars decreased by 4.7% to 360,596 units sold across the European Union. Diesel’s market share fell by almost 1 percentage point to 16.5% of total sales (down from 17.5% in Q3 2021).
During the third quarter of 2022, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) recorded the strongest growth of all fuel types (+22.0%), with 259,449 units registered across the EU. With the exception of Denmark (-2.6%) and Italy (-35.0%), all the region’s markets contributed to this positive performance, with even triple-digit gains in Cyprus (+490.0%), Latvia (+231.8%), Romania (+213.4%) and Bulgaria (+101.7%).
Registrations of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), on the other hand, fell by 6.0% in the third quarter of the year, as all the largest markets in the EU posted losses. Italy and France both recorded double-digit drops (-22.2% and -14.3% respectively), while Germany and Spain posted more modest declines (-0.9% and -1.0%). As a result of this negative performance, PHEVs lost market share compared to the same period last year, now accounting for 8.5% of total car registrations.
With 492,011 units sold from July to September, sales of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) increased by 6.9%. Their market share expanded by 1.3 percentage point – making up 22.6% of the total market. Among the region’s major markets, only Germany posted a decline (-1.5%). Italy saw the strongest increase (+20.8%), followed by France (+15.6%) and Spain (+11.3%).
