European car market accelerates, electric and hybrid models lead the charge, Estonia drops behind
The European new car market is enjoying a confident upswing. Across the European Union, registrations rose for the seventh month in a row, and October delivered another clear increase. Buyers registered 916,609 new passenger cars, a 5.8 percent improvement on last year.
During the first ten months of 2024, manufacturers handed over close to nine million new cars. That was 1.4 percent more than in the same period a year earlier, a steady reminder that Europe’s automotive sector is climbing out of its slump with measured, predictable momentum.
Battery electric vehicles made the biggest leap. Their November sales jumped 38.6 percent and pure EVs reached a 16.4 percent share of the entire market. Hybrids, including plug-ins, remain the clearest favourite among buyers with a combined 43.7 percent share. Petrol models held 27.4 percent. Diesel, once the default choice in several countries, slipped to 9.2 percent and now occupies a marginal position.
Among Europe’s major economies, Spain enjoyed the sharpest rise with a 15.9 percent increase in new car sales. Germany also moved firmly into positive territory with 7.8 percent growth. France followed with a quieter 2.9 percent gain. Italy was the lone outlier. Its market shrank by 0.5 percent, a small but telling sign of uneven national recovery.
