Fuel types of new cars: battery electric 11.9%, hybrid 22.6% and petrol 37.8% market share in Q3 2022

Fuel types of new cars: battery electric 11.9%, hybrid 22.6% and petrol 37.8% market share in Q3 2022

ACEA — 2022-11-03

News from Brussels

In the Q3 of 2022, the market share of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) increased further as sales continued to rise. 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 Q3 of 2021). Despite losing market share, diesel- and petrol-powered vehicles still dominate the market, with a combined share of 54.3%.

Petrol and diesel cars

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 Q3 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).

Alternatively-powered vehicles (APV)

During the Q3 of 2022, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) recorded the strongest growth of all fuel types (+22%), with 259,449 units registered across the EU. With the exception of Denmark (-2.6%) and Italy (-35%), all the region’s markets contributed to this positive performance, with even triple-digit gains in Cyprus (+490%), 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 Q3 of 2022, 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%). 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% 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%).

EU registrations of natural gas vehicles (NGVs) suffered another double-digit loss (-52.4%), largely driven by the significant fall in Italy (-71.2%) – the region’s largest market, accounting for over 40% of total registrations. As a result, the market share of NGVs halved during the Q3 of 2022 compared to the same period one year ago. Sales of LPG-fuelled cars slipped back by 9.5%, reaching 55,418 units, as the two largest markets for this fuel type suffered declines: France (-14.9%) and Italy (-3.1%).