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Diesel cars are losing market share in Europe, now accounting for less than 50%

Redacción 25 May 2017 2 min.

Diesel cars are losing market share in Europe, now accounting for less than 50%

The market share of diesel vehicles has fallen to 46% in Europe. Sales of these cars fell by 15% last April.

According to research carried out by JATO Dynamics (market analysts), car registrations in Europe fell by 7.1% last April. For their part, diesel cars (you can also read: “The 10 diesel city cars that consume the least“) suffered a decline that was even more pronounced: a 15% drop compared with the same month of the previous year; a figure that confirms the negative trend this type of vehicle has experienced since the “dieselgate” scandal broke in September 2015.

This drop in diesel sales has caused them to lose their leading position in sales over other fuel options: they now account for 46% of the market share, whereas in April 2016 they held 50%.

Last month, a total of 1.22 million cars were registered across the old continent, a decrease of 7.1% compared with the same month last year; the largest monthly fall since March 2013.

The Spanish car market was the only one in all of Europe not affected by this trend; in fact, vehicle sales in our country rose by 0.8% compared with last year. Other territories have not been as fortunate: Italy suffered the largest decline on the continent, with a 24.2% drop in its commercial performance, while the United Kingdom reduced its sales by 19.8%, a fall that was affected by the rise in the registration tax in that country. Countries such as Germany and France reduced their commercial performance by 8% and 6.2%, respectively.

Despite these figures, Volkswagen remains the most successful car manufacturer in Europe with 136,475 registrations in April 2017, although this represents a 13.9% decline compared with the same month last year. The Volkswagen Golf was the best-selling car on the old continent, followed by the Renault Clio, Volkswagen Polo and Volkswagen Tiguan.