There were 27 382 new passenger car registrations in Bulgaria in January to September 2023, an increase of 24.6 per cent compared with January to September 2022, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, ACEA, said on October 20.
Of the new passenger car registrations in Bulgaria in the first nine months of 2023, a total of 21 391 were petrol cars, 3896 diesel, 1374 battery-electric, 500 hybrid-electric, 220 plug-in hybrid and one “other” (a category that includes fuel cell electric vehicles, natural gas vehicles, LPG, E85/ethanol, and other fuels).
In September 2023, there were 2976 new passenger car registrations in Bulgaria, an increase of 40.2 per cent compared with September 2022.
In September 2023, new car registrations in the EU increased by 9.2 per cent, reaching 861,062 units, marking the EU car market’s fourteenth consecutive month of growth.
Two of the EU’s largest markets saw substantial gains; Italy (+22.7 per cent) and France (+10.7 per cent).
Germany’s market was relatively steady, with a tiny 0.1 per cent drop compared to September 2022.
In the first three quarters of 2023, the EU car market grew substantially (+16.9 per cent), totalling eight million registered units.
Despite the year-to-date increase, the market remains 20 per cent below the pre-Covid pandemic level of 10 million units in 2019. Except for Hungary (-3.2 per cent), all of the region’s markets recorded gains during these nine months, including the four largest: Italy (+20.5 per cent), Spain (+18.5 per cent), France (+15.9 per cent), and Germany (+14.5 per cent).
In September, the battery-electric car market share reached 14.8 per cent, marking an increase from 14.1 per cent in September the previous year.
This was the third time this year that batteryelectric cars surpassed diesel, making them the third-most-popular choice for new car buyers.
Hybrid-electric cars retained their position as the second most-preferred option, accounting for a significant 27.3 per cent of the market. Although petrol cars are still buyers’ top choice, their market share fell from 35.3 per cent in September 2022 to 34.1 per cent this year.
In September 2023, EU battery-electric car registrations increased by 14.3 per cent, reaching 127,149 units, or 14.8 per cent of the market.
Germany, the largest market, declined by a significant 28.6 per cent, which may be linked to incentives for private buyers being reduced from September.
However, notably positive performances in three other EU markets – the Netherlands (+70.8 per cent), Sweden (+60.7 per cent), and France (+34.2 per cent) – offset Germany’s decline.
In September, new EU hybrid-electric car registrations increased by 30.5 per cent, primarily driven by robust growth in the bloc’s three largest markets: Germany (+44.1 per cent), Italy (+34.8 per cent), and France (+30.2 per cent). This resulted in a cumulative 28.8 per cent increase, with nearly 2 million units sold in the first three-quarters of the year – around a quarter of the market.
Last month, new EU plug-in hybrid car registrations were relatively stable (+0.4 per cent), totalling 70,578 units. Strong performance in major markets such as France (+35.1 per cent) and Belgium (+71.4 per cent) helped offset Germany’s decline (-45.7 per cent), the largest market for this power source.
Overall, the market share of plug-in hybrid cars decreased from 8.9 per cent to 8.2 per cent in September this year.
In September 2023, the EU petrol car market increased by 5.5 per cent, although its market share decreased from 35.3 per cent to 34.1 per cent compared to September last year.
Sales growth in the largest bloc’s markets – Italy (+32.2 per cent), Germany (+9.1 per cent), Spain (+3.2 per cent), and France (+1.4 per cent) – largely contributed to this result.
The EU’s diesel car market continued to decline in September (-12.5 per cent), despite growth in Germany (+4.6 per cent), as sales in most of the bloc’s other markets retracted. Diesel cars now have a market share of 12.7 per cent, down from 15.9 per cent in September of the previous year.