In August 2024, Europe saw sales of 125,070 electric vehicles (EVs), a 36% year-over-year decrease and the most significant decline since January 2017. Consequently, the market share of BEVs dropped to 16.6% from 21.8% in August 2023. Factors such as unclear incentives, elevated BEV prices, and worries about EVs’ depreciating value are influencing demand.
The downward trend in consumer demand for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) persists in Europe, significantly impacting overall passenger vehicle sales. JATO Dynamics reports that in August 2024, there were 753,482 new car registrations across 28 European markets, a 16% decrease from the 899,881 units registered in August 2023, marking the largest year-on-year fall since June 2022. A major factor in the decline of total passenger vehicle sales is the sharp 36% drop in BEV sales.
In August, only 125,070 BEVs were registered, experiencing the steepest decline since January 2017, when records began. Munoz notes that the diminishing consumer interest in BEVs is due to unclear incentives, high prices, and concerns about their depreciating value. As a result, BEVs’ market share decreased from 21.8% in August 2023 to 16.6% last month, despite it being the highest monthly market share recorded this year, outperforming August 2022 and 2021 by 3.6 and 4.6 points, respectively. Munoz observed that while market share has increased from previous years, the growth is less than expected over time.
Several companies faced significant declines in BEV registrations, including Renault Group (-64%), SAIC (-65%), Stellantis (-52%), Hyundai-Kia (-51%), and Tesla (-44%). Volkswagen also saw a 46% drop, being outsold by BMW, among other declines across various brands. In contrast, the BMW Group saw only a minor decrease of 5%, while Geely Group and BYD saw increases of 52% and 18%, respectively.
The market share of Chinese carmakers within the BEV segment rose from 10.5% in August 2023 to 15.5% last month, buoyed by the success of the Volvo EX30 and certain BYD models. This performance placed the market share of Chinese carmakers above Tesla’s 15.3%, with only Volkswagen Group higher at 22.5%.
Felipe Munoz, a global analyst at JATO Dynamics, comments on the challenges ahead, noting the ongoing difficulty for buyers in transitioning to electric vehicles amidst the high costs compared to combustion engine cars.
So far in 2024, Europe has registered 8.64 million new cars, a modest 1.9% increase from the previous year. Munoz warns that this trend might lead to a decline in end-of-year vehicle registrations.
