New-vehicle registrations rose 9% in Europe in September for a 14th straight month of gains, the battery-electric slice growing year-over-year to 15%.
Electrified-vehicle adoption has been faster in Europe than in the U.S., where EVs made up 8% of new-vehicle sales for the first time in the third quarter, Cox Automotive data showed, a record here.
In Europe, two big markets’ registrations jumped the most, Italy’s by 23% and France’s by 11%, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association.
The European market grew 17% in the first three quarters of the year to eight million registered new vehicles, though that was still 20% under the 10 million in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, the group said.
Gas-powered vehicles were still the top seller in September, but their share fell 1% year-over-year to 34%, the group’s data showed.
While battery-electric registrations grew, hybrid ones grew more in September, by 31%. Through the first three quarters, hybrid registrations reached nearly two million units, about a quarter of the market, the group said.
