Sales of cars with hybrid engines continued to grow in Europe in April, while electric cars slipped, according to figures published Wednesday by car manufacturers. Overall, the automobile market grew by 13.7% in April, with nearly 914,000 registrations. This progression is partly linked to the two additional working days in the month of April 2024 compared to April 2023, with Holy Week, a non-working day in many European countries, falling last year in April. Over the first four months of the year, the European market grew by 6.6%, approaching 3.7 million units.
Non-rechargeable hybrids represented 29.1% of registrations (33.1% over one year), with strong growth in the main European markets (Germany, France, Italy, Spain) and nearly 266,000 units in total. Sales of gasoline cars benefited from this increase in April (7.3%), but their market share continued to decline in favor of hybrids, to 36%.
Electric cars continued to grow in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, but they are stagnating in Germany and Sweden, due to the elimination of purchase bonuses. They are even falling in Italy. While the EU has validated the end of the sale of cars with thermal engines in 2035, and after meteoric growth for three years, the share of electric vehicles stagnates over one year, at 11.9%. And it remains well below the 14.6% market share recorded over the whole of 2023. Sector leader Tesla also saw its sales drop by 4% over the first months of the year.
As for other manufacturers, the month of April allowed Volkswagen (15.5% over one year), European number one, to present good figures for its main brand but also for Skoda and Seat. The German group has reigned over 25.7% of the European market since the start of the year (-0.4 points over one year). Number 2, Stellantis, also saw its market share decline, to 18.4%, despite a strong rebound in sales at Citroën. Renault-Dacia had a good month in April but fell to 10.5% market share (-0.4 points). Toyota had a strong start to the year and has recovered a large part of the decline of its competitors, with 8.1% of the market since the start of the year.