The European car market has reached an important milestone. During May, electric cars outsold models with only gasoline engines for the first time in Europe, including the countries of the European Union, Great Britain and EFTA members.
In total, around 1.15 million new cars were registered in May, which is an increase of 3.6 percent compared to the same month last year. Electric cars occupied 23.3 percent of the market, while gasoline cars fell to 21.7 percent. In front of both drives are still classic hybrids.
In the European Union itself, electric cars still lag behind gasoline cars, but very little. Since the beginning of the year, more than 950,000 fully electric vehicles have been registered, which now have a market share of 20 percent.
The highest growth in sales of electric cars was recorded in Italy (+75.7%), France (+55.4%) and Germany (+40.9%).
A major contribution to growth was made by Tesla, whose sales in Europe almost doubled in May. Model Y was again the best-selling electric car with 17,183 units sold, while Model 3 recorded a sales growth of as much as 198 percent.
At the same time, demand for cars with gasoline engines in Europe fell by 18.2 percent, while diesel sales decreased by 16.6 percent. The biggest drop in gasoline sales was recorded in France, Spain and Germany.
Chinese manufacturers also play an increasingly important role. In May, BYD became the best-selling Chinese car brand in Europe for the first time, overtaking MG (SAIC Motor).
Strong growth is also recorded by Chery, Leapmotor, Geely and Xpeng, confirming that Chinese manufacturers continue to rapidly conquer the European market, reports b92.
