EU car market: more e-cars again in May, Tesla and combustion engines plummet

The European manufacturers' association Acea announced that the EU-wide car market grew for the second month in a row in May. The Brussels-based lobby association reported a 1.6% year-on-year increase – with 926,582 new registrations.

In May, battery electric cars had a market share of 15.4 percent in the EU, significantly more than in May 2024 with 12.1 percent. Last month, almost 142,800 battery-electric cars were newly registered in the EU, corresponding to an increase of 25 percent. This increase confirms the trend of the first five months, in which electric car registrations rose by more than 26 percent.

Electric cars remain fashionable

By contrast, the previously strong electric car brand Tesla recorded a decline of more than 40 percent. Only, 8729 of the brand's models were registered. Tesla attributes the slump to the model revision of its best-selling model, the Tesla Model Y (test), which has only just been launched on the market. However, market observers assume that the majority of the reluctance to buy can be attributed to the erratic actions of company boss Elon Musk alongside the US President.

Registrations of hybrids continued to rise to 35.1 percent and remain the preferred alternative drive type across the EU. The market share of cars with petrol and diesel engines plummeted to 38.1 percent compared to 48.5 percent in the same period last year.

The Acea (European Automobile Manufacturers' Association) represents 16 cars, truck, and bus manufacturers in Europe: BMW, DAF Trucks, Daimler Truck, Ferrari, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Iveco, Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Stellantis, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo.

(fpi)