In March, more electric and plug-in hybrid cars were registered in Europe than diesel, according to market watcher Jato Dynamics. According to figures, electric car maker Tesla has sold more cars than Dacia, Citroën, Fiat and Nissan.
Besides, Tesla once again led passenger car registrations of all powertrains with a single model. Meanwhile, total new vehicle registrations fell significantly in March.
According to Jato data for 27 European markets, total volumes fell 19% compared to the same month last year, with 1,116,400 new passenger cars registered. Although registrations are up 33% from March 2020, the market has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels and is 37% lower than March 2019, in part due to the Russian attack on Ukraine, where key components for the automotive industry come from.
Popularity of low-emission vehicles continued to rise last month. Plug-in hybrids and pure electric cars, with 244,800 new registrations, overtook diesel cars, which reached 202,112 units. In the case of plug-in hybrids and electric cars, this represents an increase of 10%, while the volume of diesel vehicles decreased by 39%.
Electric cars accounted for nearly 62% of all low-emission vehicle registrations in March, with a 46% increase in volume, according to Jato. Plug-in hybrids were down 22%, with 93,100 units registered. It is mainly attributed to government subsidies for pure electric vehicles and high prices for plug-in hybrids.
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The Tesla Model 3 and Y are in high demand.
The Tesla Model 3 was the best-selling new car in Europe in March 2022with 23,013 new registrations, ahead of the Peugeot 208 with 21,026.
This was achieved despite a 3% decline compared to the same month last year. Other brands recorded much larger declines, such as the Peugeot 208 (-17%), VW Golf (-36%), Toyota Yaris (-31%) and Opel Corsa (-36%).
According to Jato, the drop in Model 3 registrations is partly explained by the growing popularity of the Model Y: the mid-size SUV has secured third place overall.
With these two models, Tesla was able to overtake established brands such as Dacia, Citroen, Fiat and Nissan last month..
In the brand rankings, Tesla was ranked 18th in the first quarter of 2022, overtaking Seat and overtaking Nissan.
In the electric car rankings, the two mid-size Teslas, Model 3: 23,013/Model Y: 18,968, were followed by the small car Fiat 500 (6,579), the compact SUV Kia Niro (5,217) and the VW ID.4 midsize SUV. (5009).
In March, the Dacia Spring small SUV, 9/3989, entered the top 10 of European electric cars.