Electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid sales across Europe delivered a record 16.2% market share as overall car registration volumes declined by 24% as the sector emerged from COVID-19 lockdown.

A total of 1.13 million vehicles (June 2019: 1.49m) were registered across the 27 countries analysed by Jato Dynamics’ monthly market report for June, with the growing volumes of alternative fuel vehicles (AFBV) entering the market being a stand-out feature of the result.

Jato said that for each electrified vehicle which entered the market during June, just 1.7 diesel-powered vehicles were delivered to new owners as petrol and diesel registrations fell by 32% and 31%, respectively.

A total of 5.09 million vehicles have been sold across the region during H1, 2020, down 39% year-to-date.

The UK's 34.9% June registrations decline was the fifth largest of the 27 European countries analysed, behind Portugal (56%), Croatia (49%), the Netherlands (41%), Greece (40%) and Spain (36%).

Felipe Munoz, global analyst at Jato Dynamics, said that June’s new vehicle registrations result had been the strongest result since February 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the continent, but added: “At the moment, we can’t yet talk about recovery as the pandemic is still present in Europe.”

Munoz said that consumers are slowly responding to the new car deals, offers and incentives set in place to revive sales, however.

EV growth

The total number of electrified vehicles registered during rose from 111,300 units in June 2019 to 183,300 units last month – up by 65%.

AFVs’ market share of 16.2% closes the gap to less than 8ppts compared to the market share for diesel cars.

Munoz said: “Despite the decline in consumer confidence and employment, the new landscape seems to be offering a prime opportunity for electrified cars – one not seen since their introduction.

“The combination of greater offers, better deals, higher incentives, and more consciousness among consumers for a green future, is boosting EV demand more than ever.”

Among the most successful hybrids were products from Suzuki, Ford and Fiat, which, thanks to the mild-hybrid technology, were able to outsell other large players such as Kia and Lexus.

Jato said that the plug-in hybrid market was dominated by Volvo, Mercedes and BMW, leaving the previous leader Mitsubishi – now preparing for its exit from the European market – in sixth place.

Renault is celebrating 300,000 pure EV sales in the first half of this year and led the segment as its volume more than doubled, in contrast to Tesla in second place given a 42% decline in volume.

SUV surge continues

Although SUV registrations declined by 18% last month, the segment was able to increase its market share to 40%.

Jato reported that the largest, most expensive SUVs had posted the best performance, with registrations down by only 2% to 24,100 units.

Compact SUVs saw a 21% decrease and were outsold by small SUVs whose volume totalled 184,800 units.

Volkswagen Group was the top seller in this segment with a market share of 25%.

However, Ford, Volvo and Mercedes broke the trend by recording increases of 1%, 39% and 24% respectively.

Clio outsells Golf

For the second time in a row the new Renault Clio knocked the Volkswagen Golf off its European best-seller perch.

Jato said that the availability of the latest Golf 8 model continued to be the main issue, with just 28% of Golf sales accounted for by the latest version of the popular hatchback, while the fifth-generation Clio accounted for 79% of its total registrations.

Renault’s new Captur and Dacia Sandero in the third and fourth positions respectively, the Captur emerging from the month as Europe’s top-selling SUV during June.

Toyota’s Yaris also performed well, especially considering the new generation only accounted for 6% of its volume.

Other successes in the month included the Peugeot 2008 (up 10%), Renault Twingo (up 8%), Volvo XC40 (up 56%; second top-selling premium car), Volkswagen T-Cross (up 1%), Ford Puma with 10,300 units and Hyundai Kona (up 14%), Skoda Kamiq with 7,900 units and Volvo XC60 (up 28%), Mercedes CLA (up 31%), Kia Niro (up 27%), Fiat Ducato (up 62%), and Volvo S60/V60 (up 6%).

Europe's best selling cars for June, 2020, according to Jato Dynamics: