Total new car registrations in the 27 key Europe markets fell 3.6% year on year in March – the seventh consecutive monthly drop. Diesel cars counted for 31% of total registrations, the lowest monthly share since September 2000, but the newly launched Tesla Model 3 was the top market share winner.
Q1 registrations fell 3.2% to 4.13m units.
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Ongoing political and economic uncertainty, including lack of clarity around Brexit, alongside consumer preoccupation with diesel bans in cities, meant that overall demand continued to decline, JATO Dynamics said in its monthly analysis.
Last month, 19 of the 27 markets posted negative results – including the top 10 in Europe. In Q1, only six countries saw growth.
But, while overall demand may be on the decline, March was the first month when registrations of electrified cars (BEV, PHEV, HEV) exceeded the 100,000 units mark, for a total of 125,400.
Demand was up by 31% – driven by German, Norwegian, Spanish and Dutch registrations. Electric and plug-in hybrids counted for almost half of that total but the real driver of growth was the BEV with registrations up 85%.
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By GlobalDataFelipe Munoz, JATO's global analyst, said: "It was always going to be a challenge to maintain the growth rate we've seen in recent years thanks to recent events such as WLTP and legislation around diesel, as well as the impending CO2 targets. Despite the negative trend we've been seeing since September last year, the market is still strong in terms of volume and offer. In fact, a slow-down after many years of growth is not bad at all."
The rapid volume growth of pure electric cars was mainly due to Tesla's "outstanding results". Thanks to strong demand for the Model 3 the brand entered the top 25 best selling brands in Europe. Model 3 sales jumped from 3,747 units in February to 15,755 in March – making it Europe's top selling electric car.
The Model 3 was also the top selling premium midsize car in March. While it was able to outsell its rivals in the sedan category in February, the smallest Tesla was able to outsell all of its rivals in March, including all body types.
Diesel cars continued to lose ground. Last month, they recorded the lowest monthly market share since September 2000. Total diesel registrations counted for 31.2% of total volume against 36.2% in March 2018, and 44.8% in March 2017. Despite the big drops posted last year it seems that concern among consumers is still affecting demand, and the trend has not hit rock bottom yet. The biggest drops were posted by Mercedes, Renault, Peugeot, Ford and Land Rover. In contrast, Volkswagen, Skoda and Seat saw increases in diesel registrations.
The market continues to be dominated by SUVs but their growth is slowing. In March, SUV registrations totalled 650,300 units, or 36.8% of total volume. However, their sales performance is not as strong as it has been in the past, with volume growing by only 5%. Volume was up 11.7% for small SUVs, and 5.3% for compact SUVs. The rest of the SUV market posted declines. VW Group, Renault-Nissan and PSA led the SUV segment in March and in Q1.
The VW Golf continued to lead the European ranking by models, despite a 14% drop in volume in March. The best performer of the top 10 was the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa, which posted strong growth in the UK, Germany and France. The about-to-be-replaced Corsa is an older product but sold almost the same quantity of units as the Volkswagen Polo – the latest generation has been on sale for about a year.
It was also a good month for the Citroen C3, Mercedes A-Class, Dacia Duster and Volkswagen T-Roc. Outside the top 25, the Tesla Model 3 occupied the 27th position; the Opel/Vauxhall Crossland and Citroen C3 Aircross saw increases of 32% and 23%, respectively; the new Audi A1 was up by 31%. Other results included: Opel/Vauxhall Grandland +32%, Skoda Karoq +32%, Seat Arona +34%, Seat Ateca +35%, Hyundai Kona +86%, Volvo XC40 +209%, Opel/Vauxhall Adam +53%, Kia Niro +57%.
Registrations among the latest launches were as follows: Ford Focus, 29,521 units; Mercedes A-Class, 24,434; Tesla Model 3, 15,755; Audi A1, Q3 and A6 12,453, 9,743 and 9,173 respectively; Toyota Corolla, 8,943; Mercedes B-Class, 6,866; Citroen C5 Aircross, 6,357; BMW X5, 3,966 units.
