European car market grows 13.9% in 2023

By Tuba Ongun

ANKARA (AA) – The European passenger car market grew 13.9% from the previous year in 2023, an industry group report said on Thursday.

New passenger car registrations in the EU hit 10.5 million units in 2023, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) said. All EU markets posted a hike except for Hungary (down 3.4%).

Three of the largest markets saw double-digit percentage gains – Italy (18.9%), Spain (16.7%), and France (16.1%), while the German car market posted a more modest annual rise of 7.3%.

The market share of battery-electric cars in the EU reached 14.6%, with its sales hitting 1.5 million units, surging 37% year-on-year.

New EU registrations of hybrid-electric cars soared 29.5%, resulting in over 2.7 million units being sold in the year.

- December figure

In December 2023, the EU car market narrowed by 3.3% year-on-year to 867,052 units in sales. This marked first month of contraction after 16 consecutive months of growth.

While notable declines were seen in top markets such as France (14.5%) and Spain (10.6%), the German car market plunged by 23%.

New battery-electric car sales dropped for the first time since April 2020, by 16.9% from the prior year to 160,700 units in the month. This was led by a significant downturn in Germany (down 47.6%), the largest market for this power source.