The annual balance of vehicle registrations in 2023 has left disparate figures in Europe, in a market in which electrified models are increasingly advancing, although at different speeds.
The Spanish market is the one that is progressing the slowest in recovering 2019 car sales data, prior to the pandemic compared to the main European markets, with a drop of 24.5% compared to that date, while Germany registers a decrease of 21.1% compared to 2019, followed by France (-19.9%), Italy (-18.3%) and the United Kingdom (-17.7%), according to registration data published by the associations of manufacturers and sellers from each of the countries.
There are also important differences between the preferred brands in each of the markets. Thus, while Italy, France and Germany opt for own brands, in other countries it is clear that economic differences also mark the respective purchasing decisions.
Thus, in Spain the best-selling brand in 2023 was, for the second time, Toyota, with 79,883 registered units, while the 'most popular' model was the Dacia Sandero, of which 27,951 units were sold.
In France, Renault led car sales in 2023 with 277,914 units, which represents an increase of 17.5%, while second place was occupied by Peugeot, with 241,512 units, 1.67% less. The third most popular brand was Dacia (from the Renault Group), with 156,390 units and a growth of 19.5%.
Meanwhile, in Italy the most popular brand was Fiat, with 174,580 units sold (almost 2.5% less year-on-year), followed by Volkswagen, with 122,794 units (-17.1%), and Toyota/Lexus closes the podium with 98,713 units.
In Germany, Volkswagen led the market with 519,089 units sold (+7.9% compared to 2022), ahead of the also German Mercedes-Benz (277,552 units; +13.7%) and Audi (246,880 units; +15 .7%).
In the United Kingdom, the most in-demand models in 2023 were the Ford Puma, with 49,591 units, followed by the Nissan Qashqai (43,321 units), Vauxhall Corsa (40,816 units), Kia Spotage (36,135 units) and Tesla Model Y (35,899 units).
Spain improves in electrification, but the share remains low
Germany stands as the country with the highest sales volume, with 2.84 million, followed by the United Kingdom, which consolidates itself in second place with 1.9 million, and France, with 1.77 million cars, ahead from Italy, which closes the gap to around 200,000 units in 2023. Spain occupies fifth place, with less than one million units, the figure that the associations estimate should be “normal” for the national market.
For its part, Portugal improved its data by 26.9% compared to the previous year, reaching close to 200,000 registrations, driven by its electrification strategy, with a share of 32%. In addition, sales compared to 2019 fell 10.8%, below that registered in the main European markets.
Regarding electrified vehicles (100% electric and plug-in hybrids), Spain improved its data by 45% in 2023 compared to those registered in the previous year, with 113,784 units, being the country that grows the most among the main markets, although The share of total registrations, at 12%, is only above Italy (9%).
The United Kingdom has improved its 2022 data by 24%, to 455,998 units, being the second after Spain as the one that is growing the most, while doubling the share of the Spanish market, with 24% of electrified vehicles of the total. Italy, for its part, increased the registration of electrified vehicles by 19%, with 135,273 units.
Germany is the only one that registers a decrease in registrations of electrified passenger cars compared to the previous year, with 699,943 units, 16% less than in 2022, although it maintains a share of 25%.
Portugal stands out with a growth in electrified registrations of 86%, with 63,536 units, which represents a share of 32% of the total number of vehicles.
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