If electric cars are on the rise this year in Europe with a 37% increase, it’s clear that the big jump in December stalled. In figures reported this morning by AAccording to the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA), sales of new electric cars fell 16.9% to 160,700 units amid the pandemic for the first time since April 2020.
The decline can be explained more broadly by the sudden drop of more than 47% in the number of electric cars in Germany in December. The reduction which began earlier in December but was widened following the sudden end of support for the purchase of electric vehicles of 4,500 euros for vehicles costing less than 40,000 euros and 3,000 euros for vehicles up to 65,000 euros. December 13 last year.
Before Germany, Norway also decided to cut off the subsidy tap at the end of 2022, causing an immediate drop in sales of electric vehicles by more than 75% in the first month! Ditto for China, which later reinstated them.
Contraction of general market
Electric cars aren’t the only ones getting a discount in December. Overall, the automobile market contracted by 3.3% in December 2022, the first time in 2023. The European lobby justifies this decline by predicting an extraordinary increase in automobile sales in December 2022. But sector experts point to a possible decline in sales. 2024.
Because last year’s order usage fell by 9%, that suggests a similar decline in enrollment in 2024. And this is due to the effect on consumers of high interest rates which limit car loans, but compared to that the prices of vehicles also increased by 7%. 2022, according to figures from the AAA data firm. This has added to the French wait-and-see attitude after multiple government reversals on Low Emission Zones (ZFE).