60% of new cars run on petrol in EU in 1Q19

By Ebru Sengul

ANKARA (AA) - Nearly 60% of all new passenger cars registered across the EU run on petrol, while less than one third are fuelled by diesel in the first quarter of 2019, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) on Wednesday.

All alternatively-powered cars combined accounted for 8.5% of the EU market, the ACEA said, with electrically-chargeable vehicles (ECV) accounting for 2.5% of all cars sold in the region during the first quarter of this year.

"With the exception of Germany, demand for petrol cars increased in the five largest EU car markets, with Italy posting the highest percentage gain (+21.6 %). As a result, petrol’s market share increased from 55.5% to 59.3% in the first quarter of 2019," the association explained.

Diesel car registrations were contracted in most EU member states except Germany, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The share of diesel cars in the market fell by almost 6 points compared to the same quarter one year ago, to now account for 32.2% of the market.

- Electric car registrations up by 40%

Meanwhile in the first quarter of 2019, demand for alternatively-powered cars in the EU increased by 25.9%, according to the ACEA.

"Growth was driven by the electrically-chargeable vehicle segment, up 40.0 % with 99,174 units registered. Within this segment, battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales grew substantially (+84.4%), while registrations of plug-in hybrids remained practically flat," the statement read.

The association added that hybrid electric vehicles also performed well (+33.3%), totaling 184,808 units sold during the first three months of the year.

By contrast, registrations of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and natural gas vehicles (NGV) cars declined by 7.2% in the first quarter, mainly due to a sharp drop in demand for cars in this segment.

"Alternatively-powered vehicle registrations significantly increased in all major EU markets. Demand for alternatively-powered vehicles saw the highest percentage gains in Germany (+62.9%) – mainly due to a doubling of sales in the hybrid segment – as well as in Spain (+48.9%)," the ACEA concluded.

ACEA represents the 15 major Europe-based car, van, truck and bus makers including the BMW Group, CNH Industrial, DAF Trucks, Daimler, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford of Europe, Honda Motor Europe, Hyundai Motor Europe, Jaguar Land Rover, PSA Group, Renault Group, Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen Group, Volvo Cars, and the Volvo Group.