Car manufacturers have recently been able to sell more new cars, but the growth of electric vehicles has slowed significantly. Despite this market weakness, BMW wants to significantly increase the proportion of electric cars this year.
Europe’s car manufacturers also sold significantly more last month. New registrations in the European Union rose by 10.1 percent year-on-year to 883,608 cars. The European manufacturers’ association ACEA announced this today. In January there was an increase of a good twelve percent in new car registrations in the EU.
Of the four largest EU markets, France grew the most at 13 percent, followed by Italy with a slightly smaller increase. Germany did less well with an increase of a good five percent, but according to ACEA it is still one of the most important car markets in Europe.
Sometimes high discounts
Constantin Gall, Head of Mobility at the auditing firm Ernst & Young (EY), looks critically at the coming months – despite some significant discounts that are intended to lure customers back to the car dealerships. “Prices are falling again,” said Gall. “In order to avoid overcapacity, manufacturers are once again willing to grant significant price discounts – especially in the electrical segment, which is not growing nearly as fast as planned.”
In fact, the view of the electric car market is rather sobering: the market share of battery-electric cars (BEVs) remained stable at twelve percent in February compared to the previous year. However, the growth of electric cars has slowed considerably: In February, new registrations of electric cars in the EU only rose by nine percent, after increasing by 29 percent in January. The overall market for new registrations in the EU grew faster than sales of electric cars.
According to the EU’s climate goals with the “Fit for 55” program, the number of new registrations of electric cars would have to increase significantly faster. But: “Customer interest is not growing as much as hoped, the growth momentum in the electrical segment is slowing down – despite the fact that there is still considerable government support in many EU countries and despite high discounts and a large number of new releases,” says expert Gall.
BMW wants Electrical strategy implement consistently
The German car manufacturer BMW, however, also sees the weakness as an opportunity to position itself in the market. In 2023, the group sold more electric cars than direct European competitors and also more than the majority of Asian and US competitors, explained BMW. This is expected to continue in 2024: BMW wants to sell significantly more electric cars this year despite the current market weakness.
Overall, deliveries of vehicles from the BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands in 2024 are likely to be slightly above the previous year’s level, the Munich car manufacturer announced today. The proportion of fully electric vehicles in deliveries is expected to increase significantly. “The more challenging the conditions become, the more important it is to implement a consistent strategy,” said BMW boss Oliver Zipse.
Even before 2030, more than half of the BMW vehicles delivered worldwide could have a fully electric drive. To this end, BMW is currently converting its factories and building battery factories in which the batteries for electric cars will be assembled. Investment and development spending are likely to peak in the current year and decline thereafter, it said.