Fuel types of new vans: electric 3.0%, hybrid 1.6%, diesel 90.2% market share full-year 2021
Brussels, 1 March 2022 – Overall in 2021, 90.2% of all light commercial vehicles registered in the EU ran on diesel, while petrol vans accounted for 3.8% of the market. Total new van sales increased last year, which resulted in higher volumes for all fuel types, but especially electric and hybrid vans. Electrically-chargeable vehicles made up 3.0% of van registrations across the European Union last year (compared to 2.0% in 2020), while hybrid vans accounted for 1.6% (up from 0.9%).
Diesel and petrol vans
In 2021, demand for diesel vans grew by 6.2% to 1,408,376 units. Despite this increase in sales, diesel’s market share decreased from 92.4% in 2020 to 90.2% in 2021 across the region. The four main EU markets posted mixed results. Italy saw the highest percentage increase (+8.6%), followed by France (+4.0%). Spain and Germany, on the other hand, saw a decrease in demand for diesel (-4.7% and -3.6% respectively).
The number of petrol vans registered increased to 58,757 units last year, up 20.5% compared to 2020. As a result, the share of petrol increased from 3.4% to 3.8% of EU sales. Among the major markets, France (+43.2%) and Germany (+25.7%) posted double-digit gains, while Spain recorded a decline (-24.1%).
Alternatively-powered vehicles (APV)
Last year, sales of new electrically-chargeable vehicles (ECV) – which include both battery electric vans and plug-in hybrids – grew by 63.2% across the EU1 to reach 46,853 vans sold. This strong double-digit growth resulted in an increase of market share from 2.0% in 2020 to 3.0% in 2021. ECV sales went up by 237.8% in Italy, 55.5% in Spain, 44.9% in Germany and 39.8% in France.
Looking at full-year figures for 2021, sales of hybrid electric vans (HEV) jumped by 101.5% to 25,496 units, with the market share of hybrid light commercial vehicles growing from 0.9% in 2020 to 1.6% last year. Among the major EU markets, France posted the highest gain (+155.2%), followed by Italy (+129.2%), Germany (+67.6%) and Spain (+12.7%).
Registrations of vans running on alternative fuels2 increased by 10.2% in 2021 to reach 21,340 units sold across the EU. Out of the four big markets, only Germany saw a decrease (-3.2%). Overall, the share of alternative-fuel vehicles in new sales remained stable and accounted for 1.4% of the European market (compared to 1.3% in 2020).
Electrically-chargeable vehicles made up 3.0% of van registrations across the European Union last year (compared to 2.0% in 2020), while hybrid vans accounted for 1.6% (up from 0.9%).
1 Data for Bulgaria, Lithuania and Malta not available
2 Includes natural gas, LPG, biofuels and ethanol vehicles
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About ACEA
- The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) is the Brussels-based trade association of the 14 major car, van, truck and bus producers in Europe.
- The ACEA commercial vehicle members are DAF Trucks, Daimler Truck, Ford Trucks, Iveco Group, MAN Truck & Bus, Scania, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, and Volvo Group.
- Visit www.acea.auto for more information about ACEA, and follow us on www.twitter.com/ACEA_auto or www.linkedin.com/company/ACEA/.
- Contact: Francesca Piazza, Senior Statistics Manager, fp@acea.auto.
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About the EU automobile industry
- 13.0 million Europeans work in the automotive sector
- 11.5% of all manufacturing jobs in the EU
- €374.6 billion in tax revenue for European governments
- €101.9 billion trade surplus for the European Union
- Over 7% of EU GDP generated by the auto industry
- €59.1 billion in R&D spending annually, 31% of EU total
