Italian drivers will drive the European car market forward in 2023

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According to the latest statistics from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), last year saw positive results for the EU car market, with a solid 13.9% expansion compared to 2022, with total sales reaching 10.5 million units.

Top markets included Italy (+18.9%), Spain (+16.7%) and France (+16.1%). In contrast, Germany, Europe’s largest market, saw a modest increase of 7.3% year-on-year, affected by the weak performance in December.

December was the first month in which the EU-wide car market contracted after 16 consecutive months of growth. Sales for the month were 867,052 units, a decrease of 3.3%, but this decline is related to the exceptional performance in December 2022.

The number of people using cars is increasing in Europe. The average number of passenger cars per 1,000 EU residents increased by 14.3%, rising from 490 to 560 cars per 1,000 residents in 2022. Italy (684 cars) leads the rankings, followed by Luxembourg (678 cars), Finland (661 cars) and, according to the latest data from Eurostat, Cyprus (658 cars).

Battery cars, hybrid cars, conventional cars: Which group performed best?

Total sales of battery electric vehicles for the full year of 2023 exceeded 1.5 million units, reflecting a significant increase of 37% from 2022, with electric vehicles gaining a market share of 14.6%. However, sales in December decreased for the first time since April 2020 (at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic), dropping 16.9% to 160,700 units. According to ACEA, this was due to the strong performance in December 2022 and the economic downturn (-47.6%) in Germany, the largest market for electric vehicles.

However, registrations of hybrid electric vehicles rose 26% in December, driven by increases in Germany, France and Spain. With this, in 2023 he increased by 29.5%, with more than 2.7 million units sold, accounting for his quarter of the EU market share. In contrast, sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles decreased by 40.2% in December 2023, down 7% compared to 2022, with a market share of 7.7%.

As for traditional cars, gasoline car sales in the EU rose by 5.1% in December to a total of 3.7 million units, with significant contributions from key markets such as Italy and Germany.

Gasoline vehicles maintained their lead in 2023 with a market share of 35.3%, down slightly from 36.4% in 2022.

Conversely, the EU diesel car market continued to decline in December, contracting by 9.1%, with sales reaching 1.4 million units in 2023 and a market share of 13.6%, down from 16.4% in 2022.