In November 2023, the EU’ car market grew by 6.7%, according to data just released by ACEA.*. This was the sixteenth consecutive month of expansion. There were substantial double-digit gains in some markets, including two of the largest: Italy (+16.2%) and France (+14%). However, the German car market retracted, recording a -5.7% decline compared to November 2022, which provided a small base line for comparison across the EU. Overall New car registrations were +6.7% in November; with a battery electric market share at 16.3%. Eleven months into 2023, new car registrations increased by 15.7%, reaching nearly ten million units. With the exception of Hungary, all EU markets grew during this eleven-month period. The four largest markets contributed to this trend: Italy (+20%), Spain (+17.3%), France (+16.2%), and Germany (+11.4%).

In November, new EU registrations of hybrid-electric cars ascended by 28.7%, driven by double-digit growth in the three largest markets: Germany (+38.4%), France (+35.8%), and Italy (+30.2%). This led to a cumulative 29.9% increase, reaching ~2.5 million units sold as of November –more than a quarter of the EU market share.

Diverging, sales of plug-in hybrid electric cars declined by 22.1% to 72,002 units last month. Despite notable increases in Belgium (+43.8%) and France (+17.8%), these gains were insufficient to offset Germany’s considerable decline (-59.3%), the largest market for this powertrain. Consequently, the market share of plug-in hybrid cars fell from 11.1% last year to 8.1% in November this year.

1 ACEA estimation based on total by market
2 Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, and MAN
3 Includes Abarth
4 Dodge, Maserati, and RAM