Mobility

August 2024 is the 4th month in a row of declining sales of new electric cars on the European market. It's a complete freefall in Germany. France is also in the red. We need to act!

-43.9%! This is the sharp drop in registrations of new electric cars in the European Union. If we add the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland, the drop is -36%. The slap comes from Germany: -68.8%. In Italy, the collapse is -40.9%. In France, the drop is -33.1%. In Spain and Sweden, the same disillusionment: -24.8% and -30.6%. Certainly, overall, the automobile market was slowing down in August with a decrease of -18.3% and -16.5% respectively, while for the first 8 months of the year, sales are more or less stable (+1.4% for the EU). But the EV haemorrhage is real! Plug-in hybrids are also suffering from a loss of interest from European buyers (-22.3% in the EU and -22.1% for 31 countries). In reality, the only type of engine that is in the green is the non-plug-in hybrid. It's urgent we ask questions!

Backlash

For the overall assessment of the first 8 months of 2024, the drop in EV sales is -8.3% in the EU and -5.5% across the continent. This lack of love for electric cars is worrying for European manufacturers who have had to invest in this technology and even completely change certain production tools. Hundreds of thousands of jobs are at stake. Especially since China does not intend to leave a single piece of battery to Europe and America. It's also a snub to the political world. The EU wants to ban the sale of CO2-emitting vehicles in 2035. This was already a great challenge when we still believed in adopting electric cars. It looks more and more like a bet. In any case, the European automobile industry is calling for "urgent action in the face of the decline in demand for EVs".

Some exceptions

When analyzing the figures in detail, there are still a few "paradises" for electric cars. Denmark saw their sales increase by +47.7%. But this represents 7,050 cars in August 2024 compared to 4,772 the previous year. Belgium registered 10,027 EVs in August 2024, an increase of +8.5%. An interest marked by a taxation of "salary" cars that diverts companies from thermal vehicles. Moreover, rechargeable hybrids have fallen by -56.9%. The United Kingdom has seen EV sales increase by +10.8%, thanks to the special registration synonymous with no road tax (for the moment). In the Netherlands, the electric car is also helped by the tax authorities and infrastructure. However, it has only increased "by" +3% (9,418 vs 9,147). Norway continues its momentum with an increase of +13.3%. In this country, out of the 11,083 cars sold, 10,480 were 100% electric. Here too, taxation is not unrelated to this support...

(MH with Olivier Duquesne - Source: ACEA - Picture: © Olivier Duquesne)