In the final three months of 2022, the number of new vehicle registrations increased, concluding the year at a total of 2,530,000. Despite the fact that several manufacturers experienced a decrease in sales in comparison to 2021, the aggregate 5% decline for 2022 was smaller than the 10% decline observed in the third quarter. Stellantis and Volvo had notably fewer new registrations than the previous year, with a decrease of 15% and 8% respectively. On the other hand, the Tesla-Honda pool saw a positive outcome, ending the year with an increase of 26%.
In the third quarter of 2022, the average market share of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) increased from 13% to 18%, while Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles (PHEVs) saw a rise from 9% to 12%. BEVs accounted for 13% of all new automobiles registered in 2022, a 3% increase from 2021. Volvo (+18 percentage points) and BMW (+6 percentage points) achieved the highest improvements in their BEV share compared to 2021, with a respective 29% and 15%. At only 1%, down from 2% in 2021, the Mazda-Subaru-Toyota pool still has the lowest percentage of BEVs among all registrations.
All manufacturers have achieved their respective CO2 targets for 2022, with an average over-compliance of nearly 12 g/km. The Mazda-Subaru-Toyota pool is the only industrial consortium that is exempt from compliance requirements, and may still make use of super-credits.
In 2022, Norway had the highest registration share of BEVs and PHEVs (88%), followed by Iceland (58%), Sweden (56%), Finland (38%), Denmark (38%), the Netherlands (35%), Germany (31%), Belgium (26%) and Luxembourg (24%), all of which had registration shares that were above the European average of 23%.
New registrations of light commercial vehicles (vans) decreased by an average of 18% across all EU manufacturers in 2022 compared to 2021. The Stellantis group reported a higher share of battery electric vans (10%) than the overall market average, with the average share increasing from 6% in the third quarter to 8% in the fourth. The average share of battery-electric vans rose by two percentage points (5%) in 2022. The highest percentage of battery-powered vans (8%) was recorded in Germany in 2022. All manufacturers, apart from the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi group, achieved their CO2 targets for 2022, with Stellantis surpassing them by 25 g/km.
Source: European passenger car and light commercial vehicle registrations: January–December 2022 | The ICCT
