Economic and Market Report: Global and EU auto industry – First three quarters 2023

Key insights

Sales

• EU car sales surged by almost 17% in the first three quarters of 2023, with 12% growth forecast for the full year
• EU car sales are expected to increase by 2.5% in 2024, albeit at a slower pace compared to 2023
• Battery-electric car sales grew by 55% in the first three quarters of 2023. The share of battery-electric models is expected to rise to 14.5% by the end of 2023
• Japanese and US car sales experienced robust growth in the first three quarters of 2023, growing by almost 18% and over 15%, respectively
• Conversely, China’s car market stalled in the first three quarters of 2023, growing nominally by 0.2%
• Globally, car sales grew by almost 9% in the first three quarters of 2023

Production

• Over nine million cars were produced in the EU in the first three quarters of 2023, a 14% increase from the same period in 2022
• The US produced almost six million cars, growing by 11.2
• China produced 17.5 million cars in the first three quarters, growing at a slower pace of 4.7% compared to other major car-producing regions
• Japan produced 5.6 million cars in the first three quarters, an 18.5% growth

Trade

• EU car trade recorded a €70 billion trade surplus in the first three quarters of 2023, a 4.7% increase
• China is the top exporter of cars to the EU both in volume and value terms, growing by an impressive 58.1%, representing 17.2% of the market value
• The US and UK car import markets grew by an impressive 62.4% and 33.2%, respectively
• In the first three quarters of 2023, the export value of EU-made cars to the UK and the US increased by 28.1% and 16%, respectively – in China, the export value retracted by almost 18%

Battery-electric car sales grew by 55% in the first three quarters of 2023. The share of battery-electric models is expected to rise to 14.5% by the end of 2023.