The European car market registered its seventh consecutive month of decline in March 2019, JATO reports.
Ongoing political and economic uncertainty, including lack of clarity around Brexit, alongside consumer preoccupation with diesel bans in cities, meant that overall demand continued to decline.
While overall demand may be on the decline, the good news is that the electrification shift continues at pace, with a significant result in March.
It was the first time that registrations of electrified cars (BEV, PHEV, HEV) exceeded the 100,000 units mark, with a total of 125,400. Demand was up by 31% – mostly driven by German, Norwegian, Spanish and Dutch registrations. Electric and plug-in hybrids counted for almost half of that total, but the real driver of growth was the BEV, whose registrations increased by 85%.
The rapid volume growth of pure electric cars was mainly due to the outstanding results of Tesla. Thanks to strong demand for the Model 3 the brand entered the top 25 best-selling brands in Europe.
Registrations of the Model 3 jumped from 3,747 units in February (revised) to 15,755 units in March – meaning it was Europe’s top selling electric car.