EU car sales rise 4% in first quarter as electric vehicles drive growth

Passenger car sales in the European Union rose 4% in the first quarter from a year earlier, driven by strong growth in electric and hybrid vehicles, industry data showed Thursday.

New car registrations reached 2.82 million units in the January-March period, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association.

Across a broader European market including the EU, the European Free Trade Association and the UK, sales increased 4.1% to 3.52 million units.

Among major EU markets, Italy recorded the strongest growth at 9.2%, followed by Spain at 7.6%.

Battery-electric vehicles led the expansion, with registrations jumping 32.5% year-on-year to 546,937 units, accounting for 19.4% of total new car sales.

Italy posted a 65.7% surge in battery-electric sales, while Spain and Germany saw increases of 41.6% and 41.3%, respectively.

Hybrid-electric vehicles continued to dominate the market, making up 38.6% of total sales. Registrations rose 12.8% to 1.08 million units.

Plug-in hybrid vehicle sales also grew strongly, climbing 29.7% to 268,344 units.

In contrast, petrol and diesel vehicles declined sharply. Petrol car registrations fell 18.2%, with market share dropping to 22.6%, while diesel registrations decreased 15.7%, reducing their share to 7.7%.

In March alone, total car sales rose 12.5% year-on-year to 1.15 million units.