European car sales down by 27% into October 2020, but electrified vehicles gain, courtesy of mild-hybrids

As a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic, European vehicle registrations into October have dropped by 27% to 9.7 million units compared to the same period last year, and October’s 1.13 million units is a 7% drop from the 1.21 million units recorded in October 2019, according to data released by analytics outfit Jato Dynamics.

Despite the downward trend, sales of electrified vehicles have gained traction, as revealed by last month’s sales. In October 2019, electrified vehicles – which include pure electrics (BEV), plug-in hybrids (PHEV) and hybrids – accounted for 10% of total sales, tailing behind diesel (26%) and petrol (57%) models.

Last month, EVs managed to secure 27% of the market share, and while petrol vehicle sales still lead at 44%, electric now has the edge over diesel (26%). October was also the second month in a row that saw electrified vehicles outsell diesel vehicles, signifying that the switchover may be permanent.

Of course, some perspective is necessary. While EVs saw a 153% growth in sales compared to the same period last year, much of it was due to mild-hybrids, which really isn’t all that electric in the final analysis. That segment, led by strong performances from the likes of the Fiat 500 Mild Hybrid and Ford Puma, accounted for 32% of all EV sales for the month. Last year, it was at 16%.

All-electric vehicle sales went up from 21% to 25% in the segment, likewise plug-in hybrids, from 21% to 24%. All this comes at the expense of pure hybrid sales, which dropped from 42% last October to 19% last month.

In terms of pure electric offerings, the Volkswagen ID 3 was the best-selling fully electric vehicle in Europe last month, with 10,475 units sold, although it is worth noting that more than half of its registrations were from business and fleet sales. Additional context comes from the fact that non-electric versions of the car sold to the tune of 17,000 plus units in the same month.

In any case, the German car usurped the Tesla Model 3 from the top EV sales spot in the region last month, partly due to the timing of the American EV carmaker’s deliveries which are due to arrive in November, missing out on the October tally.

The second best-selling fully electric vehicle for October 2020 was the Renault Zoe with 9,778 units sold, followed by the Hyundai Kona Electric in third with 5,261 units sold. Toyota collected the top spots in the hybrid category for the region with the Yaris and Corolla, while the Mercedes-Benz A 250 e was the best-selling plug-in hybrid in Europe for October.

In terms of internal combustion-engined vehicles, the Opel Corsa sold 21,220 units in October, making it the third-best-selling car in Europe for the month and year to date, which is also 59% more than the total achieved in October last year. Other strong performers included the Renault Clio, Fiat Panda, Peugeot 2008 and Volvo XC40, according to the report.

The post European car sales down by 27% into October 2020, but electrified vehicles gain, courtesy of mild-hybrids appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News.



from Paul Tan's Automotive News
Read The Rest:paultan...

No comments