Oct 20 (Reuters) – New car sales in the European Union rose 9.2% in September, helped by a jump in sales of electric and hybrid vehicles, which together accounted for more than half of car sales last month, industry data showed on Friday.
Sales of fully-electric cars rose 14.3% from a year earlier and full hybrid sales were up more than 30% as the bloc recorded its 14th consecutive month of sales growth, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).
Fully-electric cars made up 14.8% of sales. Together, fully-electric cars, plug-in hybrids and full hybrids accounted for just over 50% of sales, the data showed.
Diesel models continued their slide to just 12.5% of sales, down from 15.9% a year earlier. As recently as 2015, diesel vehicles comprised more than 50% of new car sales in the EU.
Europe’s top car seller, Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), reported a 9.6% increase in sales in September, the ACEA said.
Stellantis (STLAM.MI) and Renault (RENA.PA) saw sales rise 11.3% and 5.1% respectively.
Car sales in Europe have been steadily recovering from pandemic-related supply chain problems, most notably a global shortage of semiconductor chips. Despite 14 straight months of growth, car sales for the first nine months of 2023 remain 20% below the same period in 2019 before the pandemic.
The number of new vehicles registered in September in the EU, Britain and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) grew by 11.1% to 1.17 million units, the ACEA said.
Writing by Miranda Murray; editing by Matthias Williams and Susan Fenton
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