Fuel types of new cars: battery electric 12.1%, hybrid 22.6% and petrol 36.4% market share full-year 2022

In 2022, registrations of new battery electric vehicles (BEVs) continued to grow, despite the overall decline of the EU car market. As a result, market share of BEVs expanded to 12.1%, a 3.0-percentage-point improvement compared to 2021. It was a strong year also for hybrid cars, which achieved a market share of 22.6%. By contrast, traditional petrol and diesel fuel-types continued to lose ground. However, combined, they still accounted for more than half of EU car sales in 2022.

Petrol and diesel cars

Petrol car sales posted a 4.1% growth during the fourth quarter of 2022. All the four key markets contributed to this improvement, especially Italy (+17.4%) and France (+3.5%). Despite that, petrol’s market share dropped to 32.5%, from 35.5% in the same period in 2021.

By contrast, diesel recorded a slight decline in the last three months of the year (-0.4%), while its market share fell to 14.4%, against 16.4% in the fourth quarter of 2021. As a result, full-year diesel car registrations went down by 19.7% to 1.5 million units, with a market share of 16.4% – 3.1 percentage points less than in 2021.

Alternatively-powered vehicles (APV)

From October to December, EU registrations of new battery electric cars expanded by 31.6% to 406,890 units, as most of the region’s markets recorded growth. Germany led the way with 198,293 units and an increase of 66.1%, followed by France which increased by 12.6% to 62,155 units. After a weak third quarter, EU plug-in hybrid car sales saw a strong rise (+29.5%) in the last quarter of 2022, bolstered by a 73.5% increase in Germany, which alone represented more than half of the region’s registrations in this category. This helped the full-year result to move into positive territory, with a 1.2% growth.

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) totalled 545,316 units registered in the EU from October to December last year (an increase of 22.2% compared to the same period in 2021), making them the second best-selling fuel type. This led to an overall increase of 8.6% over the full year, and a market share of 22.6%.

The EU market for natural gas vehicles (NGVs) witnessed substantial declines during the last three months of 2022 (-56.6%), as sales Italy – the region’s largest market for this fuel type – plunged by 71.3%. LPG-fuelled vehicles, on the other hand, grew by 16.7% from October to December last year.

Alternatively-powered vehicles (APVs) accounted for more than a half (53.1%) of the EU car market during the last quarter of the year, with over 1.3 million cars registered in total. On a quarterly basis, this is the first time that APVs surpass traditional petrol and diesel fuel-types.

Alternatively-powered vehicles (APVs) accounted for more than a half (53.1%) of the EU car market during the last quarter of the year, with over 1.3 million cars registered in total.