The collapse of the European auto market in April due to the corona virus crisis, which was already evident in individual country reports, is confirmed: According to data from the information service provider Jato Dynamics, a full 78 percent fewer cars were registered in Europe this April than before Year. This also confirmed that electric cars were the best way to get away in this environment – for Germany, for example, it was already known that Tesla was the only brand to record gains. Overall, however, the Model 3 and other pure electric cars in Europe also had to drop their feathers in April, while plug-in hybrids still achieved a small increase.
Electric cars break in milder
According to Jato, only 292,453 new cars were registered in Europe in April in the 27 countries examined. That is almost four fifths less than a year ago, and in Italy and the UK (where the Tesla Model 3 became the best-selling car in April), the number even dropped by 97 percent. Germany held up slightly better than the European average at minus 61 percent.
In the crisis, electric cars would find a new “safe haven” with Europe, Jato comments on the April result. Although they also saw a massive decline of 46 percent, which at least appears mild in comparison and caused their market share to rise to 17 percent in April. This also includes simple hybrid cars, which saw a slump of 66 percent. Plug-in hybrids were the only sub-category (7 percent to 14,000 units), pure electric cars like Tesla’s were on average 29 percent less registered than in April a year ago.
Tesla Model 3 at the top
The Tesla Model 3 achieved the position as the best-selling electric car in 23 European countries; According to Jato, it was newly registered there 2278 times in April. However, sales fell by 37 percent compared to 2019, i.e. more than the average for electric cars; Unlike in Germany, Tesla has not been able to continue growing throughout Europe despite the crisis. In total, only 13 models came onto the road more frequently in April 2020 than a year ago, reports Jato. These included two German electric cars, the Audi e-tron (1307 units in all 27 countries) and the Mercedes EQC (still a moderate 409 units).
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