Tesla Model 3 among Europe’s bestsellers in December
Tesla has announced plans to build a factory to serve Europe near Berlin.
Electric vehicles took an 11 percent market share in the month, the highest ever in Europe, JATO said in a report on Tuesday.
Tesla sold 12,053 Model 3s in December in the Netherlands, according to the European Alternative Fuels Observatory, an EU-funded statistics service.
Self-registrations
Europe’s new-car market showed big growth in December, with registrations up 21 percent year-on-year to 1.26 million, according to JATO.
Facing a new CO2 emissions fleet average of 95 grams per km for 2020, many automakers sought to register as many higher-polluting models as possible before Jan. 1. That sales push included self-registrations, JATO said.
“The growth is most likely due to self-registrations from those hoping to resell the units as second hand in 2020,” said JATO analyst Felipe Munoz. He cited Spain as an example, where total registrations increased by 6 percent, but business registrations increased by 23 percent, and private ones fell by 7 percent.
“The December registrations are an indication of the ongoing regulatory challenges facing carmakers in the year ahead,” Munoz said, noting that overall CO2 emissions rose in the fourth quarter of 2019.
December’s sharp increase was not unexpected. Peugeot CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato told Automotive News Europe last fall that he thought December would be a record-breaking month.
The gain was also magnified by a decline in the fourth quarter of 2018, industry group ACEA said last week, as some automakers pulled uncertified models off the market after the WLTP deadline.
Kuga, Duster and Qashqai surge
With the unusual market conditions as a backdrop, some models recorded large gains.
Ford Kuga sales were up 127 percent to 22,045 for the month, with a redesign that Ford described as “friendlier” new to the market.
In fifth place, the Dacia Duster small SUV was up 59 percent to 20,933 sales.
Other big gainers among the top 25 best-sellers were the Nissan Qashqai compact SUV, up 47 percent to 19,726 in seventh place; the BMW 3 series, up 127 percent at No. 20; the Suzuki Vitara small SUV, up 133 percent at No. 22; and the Smart FourTwo minicar, up 174 percent at No. 23.
Electrified vehicles recorded big gains across the hybrid, plug-in hybrid and full electric categories. The new Toyota Corolla led among hybrids, whose sales increased by 41 percent for the month, and plug-in hybrid sales were up by 80 percent, led by the BMW 3 series. The Tesla Model 3 represented 43 percent of battery-electric vehicles.
Font: Automotive News Europe