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Sales of New Electric Cars in Europe rose 99.2% in 1Q2021

Jiří Staník
April 29, 2021

Sales of electrically-chargeable vehicles amounted to 445 thousand in 1Q2021, 222 thousand more than the last year.

Electric cars represented 15.9% of all new cars sold in 1Q2021, up from 8.10% a year ago.

Most electric vehicles have been sold in Germany (143 thousand), while Cyprus registered the biggest increase in sales when compared to last year.

Electric Chargeable Cars

Sales of new electrically-chargeable passenger cars (battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) reached 445 thousand in the first quarter of 2021 in the enlarged Europe (EU plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland), according to ACEA. This is 99.2% more, or 223 thousand more than in the previous year.

Share of electric chargeable vehicles increased to 15.9% of all new passenger cars sold in 1Q2021, up from 8.10% seen in the first quarter of 2020. Most electric vehicles (143 thousand) were sold in Germany (up 172% yoy), followed by France (61.7 thousand, up 74.4%), the United Kingdom with 58.4 thousand thousand cars (up 82.9%), 32.4 thousand new vehicles were registered in Sweden (up 75.3%) and 29.8 thousand in Norway (up 32.0%). The five largest countries accounted for 73.1% of total new vehicles registered in the first quarter of 2021:

As partly seen above, the sale of battery-electric (BEV) increased by 55.6% when compared to last year, while registration of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) rose by 154%.

In relative terms, Norway liked the electric chargeable vehicles the most in the first quarter of 2021 with 82.0% of all new passenger cars sold followed by Iceland (51.6%) and Sweden (35.6%).

On the other end of the scale was Estonia with only 2.22%, Croatia with 1.92% and Cyprus with just 1.69% of electric cars sold, as % of total:

Hybrid Electric and Other Alternatively-Powered Cars

When hybrid electric vehicles (cars that combine a conventional internal combustion engine system with an electric propulsion system) and other alternatively-powered cars (such as natural gas vehicles (NGV), LPG-fueled vehicles and ethanol (E85) vehicles) are included, total sales of alternatively-powered cars (other than using diesel or petrol) amounted to 1,028 thousand vehicles in the first quarter of 2021. This is 94.5% more, or 500 thousand more than in the previous year.

Together with electric chargeable vehicles, the share of total alternatively-powered vehicles increased to 36.8% of all new passenger cars sold in 1Q2021, up from 19.2% seen in the first quarter of 2020:

In relative terms, Norway liked the alternatively-powered vehicles the most in the first quarter of 2021 with 89.1% of all new passenger cars sold followed by Iceland (67.5%) and Finland (56.2%). On the other hand, alternatively-fuelled cars represented only 15.1% of all cars sold in the Czech Republic, 13.3% in Bulgaria and 7.27% in Slovenia, according to ACEA.

Petrol and Diesel-Powered Cars

Sales of traditionally-powered vehicles using petrol and diesel reached 1,764 thousand in the first quarter of 2021 in the enlarged Europe, according to ACEA. This is 20.8%, or 463 thousand fewer than in the previous year.

Some 1,169 thousand petrol-powered vehicles were sold, down 19.0% when compared to a year ago. The share decreased to 41.9% of all new passenger cars sold in 1Q2021, down from 52.4% seen in the first quarter of 2020. Share of diesel-powered cars fell to 21.3% (from 28.4% in 1Q2020) with 595 thousand cars sold in the first quarter of 2021.

As a result, share of traditionally-powered cars amounted to 63.2% of all new passenger cars sold in 1Q2021, down from 80.8% seen in the first quarter of 2020.

In relative terms, Slovenia liked the petrol-fuelled vehicles the most in the first quarter of 2021 with 61.9% of all new passenger cars sold followed by Cyprus (60.2%) and Netherlands (59.0%). On the other hand, diesel-powered cars were preferred most in Ireland (36.6% of all cars sold), followed by Bulgaria (with 34.1%) and Slovenia (30.8%).

Relative and Absolute Sales of Cars by Power

The following charts show where the most cars are sold absolutely and relatively in Europe and elsewhere in the world:

1. Electric Passenger Cars

2. Alternative Fuelled Passenger Cars (LPG, CNG)

3. Diesel Fuelled Passenger Cars

4. Petrol Fuelled Passenger Cars

Sales of Electric Chargeable Passenger Cars in Europe (thousands of vehicles)

Country 2Q2019 3Q2019 4Q2019 1Q2020 2Q2020 3Q2020 4Q2020 1Q2021
Austria 2.78 2.85 2.75 3.62 3.76 5.99 10.2 10.3
Belgium 4.12 4.06 5.35 7.69 6.36 12.4 19.9 16.8
Bulgaria 0.055 0.053 0.017 ... ... ... ... 0.190
Croatia ... ... 0.084 ... ... ... 0.330 0.201
Cyprus 0.007 0.006 0.005 0.004 0.007 0.011 0.020 0.046
Czechia 0.292 0.353 0.387 1.32 0.681 0.908 2.33 1.54
Denmark 2.12 2.34 2.72 4.16 4.11 10.2 14.1 10.5
Estonia 0.033 0.028 0.015 0.065 0.070 0.118 0.172 0.127
Finland 1.59 1.74 2.73 4.56 2.73 4.93 5.20 7.24
France 14.4 13.4 19.1 35.4 29.8 45.7 74.8 61.7
Germany 24.4 26.9 34.3 52.4 41.5 111 190 143
Greece 0.143 0.102 0.138 0.159 0.208 0.515 1.25 1.30
Hungary 0.633 0.797 0.896 1.00 0.903 1.60 2.53 1.48
Iceland 0.587 0.555 0.481 1.17 0.651 1.16 1.23 1.08
Ireland 0.736 1.43 0.569 2.69 0.373 2.90 0.553 5.55
Italy 5.28 4.22 5.41 8.35 7.39 14.2 29.9 29.4
Latvia 0.025 0.017 0.031 0.066 0.074 0.147 0.104 0.094
Lithuania 0.031 0.046 0.042 0.087 0.074 0.167 0.125 0.065
Luxembourg ... ... 0.575 0.790 0.712 1.49 2.17 2.27
Netherlands 9.75 13.7 32.9 12.0 8.14 19.1 49.9 10.8
Norway 20.6 17.6 18.1 22.6 18.0 27.0 38.2 29.8
Poland 0.754 0.547 0.763 1.28 1.22 2.06 3.54 2.93
Portugal 2.94 2.72 3.97 4.78 2.64 4.73 7.55 4.98
Romania 0.243 0.543 0.507 0.271 0.328 0.807 1.44 0.415
Slovakia 0.083 0.077 0.101 0.324 0.310 0.474 0.376 0.397
Slovenia 0.159 0.038 0.050 0.387 0.323 0.402 0.664 0.364
Spain 4.47 3.49 5.03 7.25 3.49 10.4 20.1 10.6
Sweden 9.38 8.61 12.6 18.5 14.1 24.0 37.5 32.4
Switzerland 3.67 3.75 6.23 5.42 4.70 9.11 14.7 9.07
UK 12.5 21.0 24.7 31.9 18.5 58.4 66.2 58.4
EU 119 128 178 223 167 363 584 445
Source: ACEA, Helgi Library

Sales of Hybrid Passenger Cars in Europe (thousands of vehicles)

Country 2Q2019 3Q2019 4Q2019 1Q2020 2Q2020 3Q2020 4Q2020 1Q2021
Austria 3.73 3.81 4.55 4.41 5.11 7.21 9.29 10.2
Belgium 4.35 4.09 3.39 5.60 2.93 3.88 3.03 5.40
Bulgaria 0.520 0.478 0.605 0.501 ... ... ... 0.510
Croatia ... ... 0.351 0.486 ... ... 0.721 1.37
Cyprus 0.325 0.283 0.247 0.400 0.046 0.031 0.013 0.428
Czechia 2.22 1.92 2.37 2.38 2.01 3.02 3.56 5.41
Denmark 2.21 2.04 2.55 2.32 1.69 2.60 3.05 2.15
Estonia 0.783 0.672 0.717 0.738 0.488 0.692 0.763 1.45
Finland 4.25 4.29 3.24 5.09 3.13 5.19 5.32 8.17
France 27.0 25.5 31.4 30.1 30.4 49.3 59.1 70.8
Germany 45.8 50.4 57.0 63.1 46.5 96.4 121 101
Greece 1.68 1.90 1.87 2.59 2.12 3.25 3.79 5.06
Hungary 2.11 2.35 3.00 5.68 5.18 9.14 11.8 12.9
Iceland 0.367 0.283 0.231 0.298 0.249 0.404 0.223 0.331
Ireland 1.86 3.18 0.215 6.34 0.276 4.07 0.308 9.22
Italy 28.3 22.8 31.5 34.8 27.6 62.8 96.7 121
Latvia 0.482 0.384 0.334 0.496 0.243 0.396 0.531 0.777
Lithuania 0.926 0.772 1.11 1.08 0.825 4.20 2.18 3.39
Luxembourg ... ... 0.594 0.853 0.698 1.10 1.37 1.77
Netherlands 7.95 7.36 7.17 11.5 6.86 13.3 14.9 19.2
Norway 5.60 4.30 3.99 3.25 2.57 2.89 3.55 2.57
Poland 10.7 10.8 13.5 13.7 9.11 16.1 22.9 29.7
Portugal 2.74 2.05 2.70 2.83 1.50 2.94 4.64 4.13
Romania 1.46 2.41 2.15 2.25 2.27 4.08 5.67 5.52
Slovakia 1.04 1.07 1.61 1.33 1.26 2.00 2.94 2.61
Slovenia 0.774 0.606 0.585 0.571 0.312 0.415 0.416 0.651
Spain 27.9 25.4 33.0 29.4 16.7 40.3 51.0 41.0
Sweden 6.96 6.65 7.45 4.43 4.89 8.74 9.88 6.14
Switzerland 5.26 5.44 7.85 7.09 5.75 7.89 12.5 11.6
UK 39.5 51.0 42.8 68.1 23.3 114 13.9 109
EU 215 220 242 282 182 426 414 529
Source: ACEA, Helgi Library

Sales of Alternatively-Powered Passenger Cars Other Than Electric in Europe (thousands of vehicles)

Country 2Q2019 3Q2019 4Q2019 1Q2020 2Q2020 3Q2020 4Q2020 1Q2021
Austria 0.185 0.139 0.195 0.005 0.122 0.111 0.072 0.025
Belgium 1.45 0.888 0.680 0.049 0.852 1.27 0.923 0.843
Bulgaria 0.803 0.823 0.419 0.086 ... ... ... 0.053
Croatia ... ... 0.048 0.064 ... ... 0.324 0.327
Cyprus ... ... ... 0 ... ... ... 0
Czechia 0.725 0.674 0.435 0.105 0.446 0.735 0.916 0.507
Denmark 0 0 0.005 0 0 0 0 0
Estonia 0.216 0.307 0.173 0 0.149 0.198 0.185 0.188
Finland 0.555 0.737 0.778 0 0.400 0.487 0.218 0.307
France 0.796 2.89 4.01 0.506 3.54 6.89 5.95 9.42
Germany 4.65 4.13 2.69 0.180 2.15 4.57 4.68 2.51
Greece 0.623 0.800 0.596 0 0.272 0.542 0.590 0.533
Hungary 0.007 0 0 0 0.013 0.168 0.128 0.206
Iceland 0.021 0.017 0.013 0 0.006 0.013 0.001 0.001
Ireland ... ... ... 0 ... ... ... 0
Italy 47.1 43.6 41.9 20.9 21.4 36.3 38.0 36.4
Latvia 0.042 0.010 0.020 0.012 0.020 0.027 0.073 0.042
Lithuania ... 0.002 0 0 ... 0.022 0.051 0
Luxembourg ... ... 0.001 0 0 0 0 0
Netherlands 0.301 0.104 0.167 0.090 0.344 0.783 0.854 0.399
Norway 0.003 0.003 0.003 0 0.001 0.002 0.001 0
Poland 2.85 2.90 0.344 0.643 1.18 2.69 4.70 3.11
Portugal 0.731 0.646 0.212 0.094 0.349 0.475 0.915 0.435
Romania 0.295 0.742 0.074 0.093 1.07 2.87 5.25 1.67
Slovakia 0.088 0.065 0.083 0.042 0.218 0.275 0.339 0.217
Slovenia 0.039 0.029 0.017 0.004 0.046 0.058 0.076 0.123
Spain 8.09 7.51 3.94 0.988 1.56 4.44 4.75 2.56
Sweden 1.32 2.33 2.04 0.001 0.542 0.998 0.864 0.416
Switzerland 0.424 0.378 0.360 0.001 0.115 0.111 0.081 0.066
UK ... ... ... 0 ... ... ... 0
EU 66.3 64.2 57.6 22.8 31.6 57.0 57.9 54.0
Source: ACEA, Helgi Library

Sales of Diesel-fuelled Passenger Cars in Europe (thousands of vehicles)

Country 2Q2019 3Q2019 4Q2019 1Q2020 2Q2020 3Q2020 4Q2020 1Q2021
Austria 36.2 23.9 27.9 21.3 21.6 18.3 22.5 16.3
Belgium 49.6 41.1 35.8 40.6 29.0 39.4 33.1 32.1
Bulgaria 3.99 4.03 3.75 2.34 ... ... ... 1.93
Croatia ... ... 4.19 3.46 ... ... 2.77 3.09
Cyprus 1.25 1.11 0.911 0.901 0.610 0.761 0.619 0.606
Czechia 18.2 16.7 17.6 14.6 12.1 16.6 16.9 14.1
Denmark 14.8 13.5 14.5 13.0 9.13 10.4 12.6 7.04
Estonia 3.25 2.70 2.16 1.28 1.55 2.23 2.12 1.42
Finland 5.75 4.53 4.04 3.95 2.95 3.21 2.68 2.61
France 209 160 196 121 102 139 142 108
Germany 318 277 267 224 159 227 210 158
Greece 8.66 8.21 5.65 5.79 4.31 5.78 6.37 5.05
Hungary 8.44 6.67 8.50 6.95 4.83 7.67 8.17 6.01
Iceland 1.46 0.685 0.490 0.452 0.364 0.687 0.300 0.332
Ireland 7.52 14.7 1.48 21.9 1.49 13.0 1.86 17.6
Italy 225 143 159 119 84.4 132 117 112
Latvia 1.78 1.59 1.60 1.46 0.891 1.24 1.18 1.00
Lithuania 2.04 2.24 1.91 1.49 0.946 1.77 2.75 0.950
Luxembourg ... ... 4.85 4.60 3.34 4.80 3.89 3.77
Netherlands 8.63 7.31 6.18 5.46 2.65 3.18 1.71 2.17
Norway 6.39 5.40 5.69 3.49 3.21 3.09 2.37 2.09
Poland 27.2 25.5 28.4 19.7 13.2 22.3 25.7 17.1
Portugal 26.5 18.5 20.1 15.7 6.33 13.6 12.2 8.16
Romania 9.79 12.1 10.5 8.30 6.19 8.39 11.0 3.74
Slovakia 6.73 5.89 6.44 4.99 3.55 5.49 5.06 4.04
Slovenia 6.60 4.65 4.82 4.81 4.51 4.97 3.54 4.82
Spain 102 73.7 85.0 59.7 36.2 70.0 70.0 42.8
Sweden 33.4 23.8 34.7 16.6 15.6 15.4 15.3 19.5
Switzerland 22.5 16.8 19.8 16.0 10.3 13.7 14.2 9.36
UK 152 139 104 91.4 27.5 90.1 52.7 48.6
EU 1,226 970 992 783 520 802 721 595
Source: ACEA, Helgi Library

Sales of Petrol-fuelled Passenger Cars in Europe (thousands of vehicles)

Country 2Q2019 3Q2019 4Q2019 1Q2020 2Q2020 3Q2020 4Q2020 1Q2021
Austria 52.1 44.8 35.7 25.2 27.5 29.0 26.0 26.6
Belgium 95.1 78.6 65.6 72.5 50.1 60.1 41.0 64.1
Bulgaria 6.02 4.73 5.25 2.86 ... ... ... 2.97
Croatia ... ... 7.04 5.84 ... ... 3.79 5.50
Cyprus 2.19 1.53 1.52 1.62 1.04 1.59 1.43 1.64
Czechia 48.7 43.8 39.7 31.3 30.6 34.0 33.5 28.0
Denmark 36.9 33.6 32.2 29.3 25.0 30.6 26.3 24.2
Estonia 5.55 4.57 4.03 3.27 2.11 3.16 2.31 2.54
Finland 19.0 16.4 15.5 13.9 9.85 12.2 9.60 9.65
France 362 274 322 178 185 210 201 192
Germany 576 533 506 359 260 393 350 252
Greece 28.2 16.2 13.1 12.5 8.27 13.4 8.93 11.5
Hungary 29.0 30.7 30.4 19.0 12.1 15.8 15.3 11.6
Iceland 2.14 1.00 0.675 0.544 0.442 0.807 0.348 0.347
Ireland 6.51 13.8 0.898 18.9 0.953 11.7 1.09 15.7
Italy 239 172 211 156 95.9 137 133 149
Latvia 3.05 2.47 2.47 1.83 1.71 2.03 1.77 1.53
Lithuania 10.3 8.10 8.60 8.07 4.24 5.28 6.87 3.19
Luxembourg ... ... 5.93 5.67 4.13 5.86 3.94 4.66
Netherlands 83.7 76.5 68.1 74.0 37.1 54.0 40.5 46.8
Norway 7.17 5.14 3.99 3.05 3.09 3.18 1.96 1.85
Poland 96.9 92.7 102 72.3 47.4 72.1 76.3 65.1
Portugal 36.3 21.5 22.8 21.9 8.75 19.1 14.5 13.3
Romania 24.0 36.6 24.3 17.1 11.8 18.8 18.4 7.73
Slovakia 20.2 17.2 16.9 12.2 9.71 13.4 12.0 8.14
Slovenia 13.4 11.0 10.3 8.83 8.31 9.39 5.77 9.68
Spain 233 163 166 120 63.2 130 110 89.1
Sweden 43.0 38.5 51.5 25.6 24.4 27.8 25.9 32.4
Switzerland 53.2 42.8 51.0 35.1 26.9 29.6 31.8 26.4
UK 365 382 278 292 101 327 184 209
EU 2,239 1,912 1,850 1,444 931 1,495 1,210 1,169
Source: ACEA, Helgi Library
Jiří Staník
Jiří Staník
CEO & Founder
He spent nearly two decades analysing companies in the region of Central and Eastern Europe, primarily in the area of financial services. Jiri built and headed Equity Research at Wood & Company, a Central European brokerage firm, and got several awards (such as The Best Equity Research or The Best Analyst by Euromoney).