Although 2020 will go down as a dramatic year for the automotive industry, there are also small boosts. New figures show that the share of electric cars of all European cars sold has never been higher.
European car sales seem to have emerged from the deep corona trough. After a long time, industry observer JATO is positive again about the registration figures it keeps in 27 European countries. Last July 1,278,521 new cars were registered on our continent. Compared to last year, this is ‘only’ a decrease of 4 percent. However, this does not save the sales figures, because with total sales of 6.37 million cars since January, everything is 35 percent behind last year.
However, it is not all doom and gloom. Never before have so many Europeans bought a fully electric car in a month than in July this year. In total, this involved 230,700 electric cars: a plus of 131 percent compared to the same month a year earlier. This high number ensures that EVs have a whopping 18 percent share of total sales. Last year this was only 7.5 percent and in July 2018 even 5.7 percent. The list of available EVs now includes 38 cars. These positive figures suggest that the measures taken by several countries seem to be working.
JATO also keeps track of the segments in which Europeans usually shop. Although the enormous amount of mid-sized SUVs suggests otherwise, it is precisely that segment that recorded a decline. Compared to last year, the share of mid-sized SUVs decreased by 6 percent. Other segments fared better, such as compact cars (+9 percent), mid-size cars (+4 percent) and luxury SUVs (+14 percent).