3rd ICAI 2024

International Conference on Automotive Industry 2024

Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic

Data for new passenger car registrations in Europe are available for each year as tracked by ACEA – European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. We examine data on sales and market dynamics between 2006 and 2023 for EU countries and between 1990 and 2021 for EU15+EFTA countries, because data are only available for these regions during these periods. We examine the data over time by continent (from which the car manufacturers originate), by individual concerns and by brand. The data are unfortunately often fragmented and published at one or two-year intervals. Therefore, some rounding estimates are made in some cases, but they do not affect the final findings. 3.1 The role of the EU (European) passenger car market in a global context The total number of passenger car registrations (sales) in the world in 2022 reached 57.5 million units, an increase of 2% compared to 2021 (however, sales were still down 10% compared to 2019). The number of registrations reached an all-time high in 2017, when total global sales amounted to almost 71 million passenger cars. Thereafter, registrations declined annually until 2020, driven by the global coronavirus pandemic. In 2021 and 2022, although there was a slight increase in passenger car registrations, sales did not return to pre-pandemic levels (OICA, 2024). 3. Development of the passenger car market

Figure 1: Passenger car registrations in the world (mn)

Source: OICA

The share of the European Union + EFTA + UK in total passenger car registrations has been declining over time. In 2005, the European’s share of world passenger car sales was 34%. This was followed by a year-on-year decline until 2013, when the European’s share of world sales was just 19%. Since 2014, the European’s share has been between 20-25%, reaching 20% in 2022.

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