Sales of fully electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in Europe, overtook diesel-powered vehicles for the first time ever in the month of August (2021), according to data provided by JATO Europe.
EVs and plug-in hybrids managed to take a 21 percent market share with 151,737 deliveries, leaving behind diesels with 20 percent and 141,635 units respectively. While this is the first time that electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles outsold diesel cars in the continent, in absolute numbers, it’s not their best month, but their second-best in history.
As for gas-powered vehicles, they still have the largest portion with a 56 percent market share, but it is gradually declining.
To get an idea of the huge growth recorded in EV sales, from January to August 2021, BEVs and PHEVs have sold a total of 1.32 million units, compared to a modest 158,300 units from the same period in 2020. The best-seller among the fully electric models for August was the VW ID.3 for the second month in a row, with the Tesla Model 3 following closely, and the ID.4 sibling in third place.
As for plug-in hybrids, Ford’s Kuga crossover maintained first place in spite of a 26% drop over last year in August, with the Mercedes GLC and BMW 3 Series PHEVs completing the top 3 spots.
Total Sales And Most Popular Models
Despite dropping double digits for the second month in a row, the total market volume from January to August 2021 in Europe was 8,095,419 registered vehicles, which is higher compared to last year’s 7,192,839 units.
The total number of new car registrations in August for the European market was 713,714 units. This is 18 percent lower than 2020, a 33 percent drop over 2019, and the lowest since 2014. The decline is obviously affected by the chip shortage which causes a large waiting period for most new cars, reverting buyers to the used car market.
Despite availability issues, the Dacia Sandero has proved to be quite a hit, remaining at the top spot for the second month in a row, becoming this year’s fifth best-selling car. The VW Golf came second recording a significant monthly decline compared to the previous years while remaining at the top spot for 2021.
The Toyota Yaris, Dacia Duster, and VW T-Roc are rounding up the top 5 spots in overall sales. What is surprising is the aging Fiat 500 in sixth place overall with 10,966 monthly registrations, including the fully electric model’s 3,152 sales.
