New passenger car registrations in the European Union (EU) in March declined by 21% year-on-year and were 34% below pre-pandemic (2019) levels, said a study released by consulting firm EY (Ernst & Young). This was reported by The Xinhua News Agency.
In addition to the ongoing global chip shortage, the Russia's war against Ukraine and the lack of important supplier parts also have a substantial impact on new car sales in Europe, according to EY.
A worker cleans Land Rover cars at a Jaguar Land Rover dealership in Reading Britain. Photo by Tim Ireland/Xinhua.
"The considerable bottlenecks in semiconductors and various other intermediate products as well as raw materials mean that the ability to deliver is massively impaired at most manufacturers", – said Peter Fuss, partner at EY.
"The situation will not improve significantly at least until the autumn of this year", – said Fuss.
Rising inflation, stagnant economic recovery and high fuel prices could have "an impact on demand in the medium term, but do not play a role for the automotive sector at present", – Fuss added.
The growth in electric car and plug-in hybrid sales in western Europe's five largest markets – Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Spain – has also slowed down, increasing by 7% only year-on-year, compared with a 36% growth in February.
Cars wait to be refueled at a gas station amid rise of fuel prices in Madrid, Spain. Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua.
Plug-in hybrid vehicle sales declined by 18% in March, while sales of all-electric cars still grew by 31%, according to the study.
"The chip crisis has long since reached the electric segment – sales of electrified new cars could be significantly higher if the industry were able to deliver accordingly", – Fuss said.
The combined market share of electric and plug-in hybrids in March rose from 15.3% to 20.4% in western Europe's top five markets compared to the same month last year, according to EY.
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