EU New Car Sales Rose in October With Help From Electric Vehicles

By David Sachs

New car registrations in Europe rose in October, driven by demand in France, Italy and Spain, and a jump in fully-electric vehicle sales.

Registrations, which reflect sales, rose 15% to 855,484 in October compared with a year ago, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, known as ACEA, said Tuesday. France, Italy and Spain posted double-digit increases, while Germany registrations rose just 4.9%, reflecting the country's slowing economy. New car sales rose 17% to about 8.8 million units for the period of January through October, the industry group said.

Sales of fully-electric cars rose 36% to 121,808 units. EVs gained market-share on gas-burning vehicles, accounting for 14.2% of European sales, compared with 12% in October of 2022, ACEA said. EVs accounted for 14% of all new car registrations from January through October.

From January through October, Germany accounted for the most fully-electric car registrations in the European Union with 424,623, a 38% increase over the same period last year. France saw the second-most registrations with 230,089, a 46% rise. Belgium's EV adoption has grown the quickest in the bloc, rising to 77,324 from 29,325 in the previous nine-month period.

October's overall sales figures represent the 15th consecutive month of growth for the industry, ACEA said.

Of the big five EU carmakers, Renault posted the highest growth rate in October. The French car company had a 24% increase in registrations over last October for a total of 95,630 cars.

German carmaker Volkswagen had 210,251 registrations, a jump of 9.9% from last October.

Registrations for Stellantis, the Amsterdam-based maker of Jeep and Dodge, rose 11% to 157,390.

German carmaker Mercedes-Benz saw registrations grow 12% to 48,292, and BMW Group saw an 18% rise to 57,807.

Write to David Sachs at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 21, 2023 02:14 ET (07:14 GMT)

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