Filenews 12 January 2025 - by Charalambos Zakos
Brussels and member state governments want to boost sales of pure electric cars in Europe to meet environmental targets for transport emissions, but consumers do not seem to share the same views and preferences.
This is at least concluded by the data of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) for the 11 months of 2024, which show a great trend and shift of citizens towards hybrid cars, generally in Europe, but also in Cyprus.
More specifically, as you will see in the data below collected and analyzed by "F", in Europe there is a 5% increase in hybrid car purchases and a drop in pure electric cars. In fact, in Cyprus, hybrid sales were in the first place of sales, having surpassed gasoline cars, which have always been at the forefront.
It is worth noting that in Cyprus there is also an increase in sales of pure electric and plug-in hybrids for 2024 compared to 2023, but this is also credited to the Government's plans regarding generous subsidies for the purchase of pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars.
How the European market has moved
Car sales in the EU by European manufacturers remained relatively stable in the 11 months of 2024, according to the latest data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), while sales of European new cars in Cyprus increased for the same period.
More specifically, according to the same data, in the first 11 months of 2024, new car registrations in the EU remained stable (+0.4% compared to the same period of 2023), reaching 9.7 million. Vehicles. However, among the 4 most important European markets only Spain saw growth with 5.1%, while decreases were recorded by France (-3.7%), Germany (-0.4%) and Italy (-0.2%). That is, countries that have seen their economies stagnate for the past two years.
It is worth noting that the European car market recorded the largest decline in August 2024 (-18.3%), as new cars fell to 643,637 units compared to 787,812 in the corresponding month of 2023.
They increased by 2.7% in Cyprus
Cyprus for the same period recorded an increase of 2.7%, as until November 2024 there were 14,380 registrations of new European cars, compared to 13,977 in the corresponding period of 2023. For the same period, used car registrations, according to the Statistical Service of Cyprus, reached 21,980 and constituted 60.5% of the total registrations.
More specifically, according to the same data, passenger saloon car registrations increased by 6.5% and reached 36,360 compared to 34,140 in the corresponding period of 2023. Of the total passenger saloon cars, 14,380 or 39.5% were new and 21,980 or 60.5% were used cars.
The first 11 months of 2024 show variations in the type of new cars purchased, with the trend leaning particularly towards hybrids, which saw an increase of 5% compared to the same period of 2023, while all other segments showed a decrease.
A trend that is due on the one hand to the high prices of pure electric cars, and on the other hand to the impressive performance recorded by hybrids, since they provide low fuel consumption, without the limitations of electric cars.
Consumers – as sales show – consider hybrids, compared to electric and even plug-in hybrids, to be the best choice in terms of purchase costs and benefits.
More specifically, of the 9.7 million new vehicles in January – November 2024, 33.7% were petrol, 30.7% hybrid, 13.5% purely electric, 12.1% diesel, 7% plug-in hybrid and 3.1% used other fuels. In the corresponding period of 2023, 35.6% of new cars were petrol, 25.7% hybrid, 14.2% pure electric, 13.7% diesel, 7.7% plug-in hybrid and 3.1% of new cars used another type of fuel.
Cypriots prefer hybrids The trend with hybrids continued in Cyprus, since compared to 2023 hybrid sales recorded an increase of 5% and were first in sales
In particular, for Cyprus the trend towards hybrids is even greater, since in the 11 months of 2024 they were first in sales, surpassing gasoline cars that have always been in first place.
Compared to 2023, hybrids recorded an increase in sales by 5% reaching an impressive 42.8% compared to 37.5% in the corresponding period of 2023, leaving in 2nd place gasoline cars that fell to 42.7% from 50.7% in the same period in 2023.
Specifically, from January to November 2024, of the 14,380 new car sales, 42.8% were hybrids, 42.7% gasoline, 8% pure electric, 4.2% plug-in hybrids and 2.3% used another type of fuel. Respectively, in the same period of 2023, hybrids were at 37.5%, gasoline at 50.7%, pure electric at 5.3%, Plug-in hybrids at 3.4% and 3.1% used another type of fuel.
For its part, Brussels wants to boost sales of pure electric cars, after reducing the carbon dioxide emissions cap from January 1, 2025, threatening heavy fines for European automakers.
The EU aims for pure electric cars sold to make up at least 20% of new cars produced by European car factories. However, a decision that may hit automakers hard with possible cuts in production and rising prices.
However, several European carmakers are trying to find an antidote to the new rules by buying CO2 credits from competitors.
According to an EU survey, automakers such as Stellantis, Mercedes and Toyota plan to buy emissions from automakers that produce pure electric cars and have surplus emissions, such as Tesla and Polestar.
Why don't citizens want pure electrics?
Pure electric vehicles are a headache for both the car manufacturers themselves and the citizens, since some of their features are a discouraging factor for their purchase in the first place.
The first problem identified is high prices. For example, the same car model can sell for €15,000 more than a standard hybrid or an internal combustion engine, which is also the case with plug-in hybrids, which are still priced high and have not filled the gap and expectations as an intermediate solution.
The second problem concerns the resale prices of used purely electric cars, since the replacement of batteries that are very expensive along with their reduced autonomy after some years of use bring down the prices of used cars.
The third problem concerns the lack of infrastructure, its autonomy and charging time, since, unlike traditional internal combustion engines, there are serious restrictions on their use.
A fourth problem is electricity prices, since the savings currently generated in relation to internal combustion engines, which now have excellent performance in fuel economy, do not to a large extent justify the depreciation that will result from not buying fuel compared to electricity.
