Europe Car Sales Fall For First Time In 7 Months

(RTTNews) - Europe's new car registrations declined for the first time in seven months in January, reflecting a challenging start to the year, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association said Tuesday.

New car sales posted an annual fall of 3.9 percent in January, reversing December's 5.8 percent increase. Sales decreased for the first time since June.

The lobby said that the battery electric car market share reached 19.3 percent, highlighting the continued potential for further growth.

"Hybrid-electric vehicles lead as the most popular power type choice among buyers, with plug-in hybrids consolidating their position in the market, underlining the importance of a technology-neutral pathway to decarbonisation," ACEA said.

While hybrid-electric car registrations captured 38.6 percent of the market, the combined market share of petrol and diesel cars fell to 30.1 percent.

Data showed that sales of battery electric cars surged 24.2 percent from the last year. Sales of plug-in hybrid and hybrid electric cars moved up 28.7 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively.

In contrast, petrol car sales plunged 28.2 percent and diesel car sales slid 22.3 percent.

Further, data showed that new car registrations in Germany and France declined 6.6 percent each. Meanwhile, Italy reported an increase of 6.2 percent and Spain registered a moderate 1.1 percent rise.