Fuel types of new cars: battery electric 7.5%, hybrid 19.3%, petrol 41.8% market share in Q2 2021

Demand for hybrid cars also strongly increased during this three-month period, accounting for 19.3% of EU car registrations. At the same time, the market share of traditional fuel types (petrol and diesel) contracted, together making up 62.2% of new cars sold.

Petrol and diesel cars

From April to June 2021, registrations of both petrol and diesel powertrains grew across the EU (by 25.3% and 7.8% respectively) on the back of a low base of comparison due to last year’s COVID-19 restrictions. However, this growth was considerably more modest compared to that of the other fuel segments, resulting in a reduction in market shares.

As a result, diesel now holds a market share of 20.4%, down from 29.4% in the second quarter of 2020. Similarly, the market share of petrol-powered cars contracted by 10 percentage points (from 51.9% in April to June 2020 to 41.8% this year), despite increases in demand in most EU markets, including the four major ones.

Alternatively-powered vehicles (APV)

During the second quarter of the year, registrations of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) expanded by 231.6%, reaching 210,298 cars. This increase was helped by substantial gains in all the four largest markets in the region, especially in Spain (+372.7%) and Germany (+357.0%).

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) had an even more impressive second quarter of 2021, with registrations jumping by 255.8% to 235,730 units. Italy was among the strongest growth markets again, with 21,647 plug-in cars registered from April to June – a year-on-year increase of 659.3%. The EU’s three other major markets also saw impressive gains in the PHEV segment so far this year: Spain (+430.3%), France (+276.4%) and Germany (+269.9%).

With 541,162 units sold in the EU during the second quarter of the year, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) remained the largest category of alternatively-powered cars in volume terms. All EU markets recorded two or even three-digit percentage gains during this period, including the four major ones. As a result, hybrid registrations more than tripled from April to June, up 213.5% compared to one year ago.

Demand for natural gas vehicles (NGVs) in the European Union increased by 41.8% to 13,497 units during the second quarter, mostly sustained by remarkable growth in Italy (+94.0%), which alone accounts for 75% of all EU sales in this segment.

Registrations of LPG-fuelled cars more than doubled (+134.1%) to total 59,363 units, boosted by a strong performance in Italy (+89.5%) and France (+266.0%), the two largest EU market for LPG cars.