After a dip in May, new car sales in the EU bounced back with a 4.3% increase in June compared to the same month last year, reaching around 1.1 million vehicles.
Italy, Germany, and Spain led the way, with sales rising by 15.1%, 6.1%, and 2.2% respectively. On the other hand, France saw a drop of 4.8%.
For the first half of the year, new car registrations in the EU went up by 4.5%, hitting nearly 5.7 million vehicles. However, these numbers are still lower than pre-pandemic levels, according to Der Spiegel.
Electric Car Struggles
One big hurdle for car manufacturers is the slow demand for electric cars.
In June, new registrations for electric vehicles dropped, even though Belgium and Italy saw major increases of 50.4% and 117.4% respectively.
These gains weren't enough to offset the declines in Germany (down 18%), the Netherlands (down 15%), and France (down 10.3%).
Hybrid cars, however, are becoming more popular, with registrations jumping by 26.4% to 321,959 vehicles in June. Meanwhile, sales of plug-in hybrids fell.
Germany's Love for Petrol and Diesel
Traditional petrol and diesel cars are holding their ground, especially in Germany. Petrol car sales there increased by 12.1%, while in France, they dropped by 20.2% in June.
The diesel market followed a similar pattern. Germany saw a 12.4% rise in diesel car sales, while Italy, France, and Spain experienced drops of 18.3%, 8.3%, and 2.1% respectively.
Overall, fossil fuel-powered cars made up 47.1% of the market in the EU in June. Electric cars saw their market share slip from 15.1% to 14.4%, but hybrid models jumped to 29.5%.
European car manufacturers are optimistic that car sales will continue to improve later this year, even though the demand for electric cars is slowing down after several years of strong growth.
However, there are concerns about a challenging global market ahead.
