Europe's new car registrations registered a double-digit growth in April but the pace of growth slowed from March, data published by the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, or ACEA, showed Wednesday.
New car sales advanced 17.2 percent from the last year, following March's 28.8 percent expansion.
All the EU major markets registered robust growth in April, with Italy posting the biggest annual increase of 29.2 percent.
Sales in France and Germany rose 21.9 percent and 12.6 percent, respectively. At the same time, Spain reported an increase of 8.2 percent.
There was a significant upturn in the market share of battery electric cars in April. The share of battery electric cars increased to 11.8 percent from 9.1 percent. Most EU markets reported double- and triple-digit percentage gains.
Hybrids represented 24.8 percent of the EU new car market, while petrol cars continued to dominate with the largest share at 38.2 percent. Petrol car sales were up 17.3 percent, reaching 3.06 million units.
From January to April, the EU car market grew 17.8 percent to 3.5 million registered cars. However, sales were down 22.8 percent compared to the same period in 2019, highlighting the ongoing struggle in the car market.
