European car sales continue to fall in 2021

The chip shortage has not helped European car sales last year. According to the ACEA car industry association, sales of new passenger cars in the European Union last year were 2.4 percent below those of 2020, when the uncertainties surrounding corona already deterred potential car buyers. In total, 9.7 million new passenger cars were registered in 2021. The month of December was the sixth month in a row that registrations were below the level of a year earlier. At the start of the year, the corona concerns seemed to be increasingly shaken off and sales rose. The turning point came in the summer. Due to the chip shortages, far fewer cars are being produced, which means that fewer cars came onto the market.

Not everywhere was 2021 a worse year than 2020 in terms of car sales. Of the major European economies, only in Germany were sales lower last year. In Europe’s largest economy, car sales also fell sharply, by 10 percent to 2.6 million cars sold. In France, Spain and Italy, sales did increase year on year. In the Netherlands there was a minus of more than 9 percent. Almost 323,000 new cars were registered here.

The Volkswagen Group remained the market leader in the EU, although it saw its market share drop slightly last year to more than a quarter. Stellantis, parent company of Peugeot, Fiat, Opel and Citroën, among others, accounted for almost 22 percent of the market and therefore the number two. Groupe Renault, which also includes Dacia, followed with a market share of 12.6 percent. Hyundai Motor Company (including Kia) followed in four. The BMW Group completed the top five.

It is striking that electric driving has really taken off in Europe last year. Schmidt Automotive calculated that fully electric cars are now more popular than cars with a diesel engine on board. However, the lion’s share of new cars sold in Europe still have a petrol engine.