EU new car sales rose 5.1% in December

(Sharecast News) - New car sales in the EU were firmly higher in December, compared with a year earlier, as a surge in registrations in Spain made up for more tepid growth in France and big declines in Germany and Italy. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association on Tuesday, a total of 910,505 new cars were registered across the economic union last month, up 5.1% on December 2023.



Spain was a standout performer among the larger economies, with sales rising 28.8% year-on-year to 105,346, while sales in France rose 1.5% to 183,662. However, sales dropped 7.1% in Germany to 224,721 and were 4.9% lower in Italy at 105,786.

For 2024 as a whole, new car registrations across the EU were up just 0.8% at 10.6m units, with sales in Spain rising 7.1% but falling in France (-3.2%), Germany (-1%), and Italy (0.5%).

Petrol cars made up 33.3% of all sales in the EU in 2024, down from 35.3% a year earlier, while hybrid electric vehicles' share of the market improved to 30.9% from 25.8%. Battery electric vehicles meanwhile took 13.6% of the market, down from 14.6% in 2023, but their market share was at 15.9% in December.