We are in times of change in the automotive sector, in the midst of transition towards electrification. At least in Europe, regulations are so strict that they force manufacturers to focus on this “zero emissions” technology. This also generates a domino effect that is pushing users to buy this type of car. However, not everyone is clear about the decision if they are prepared to have an electric car. It has been demonstrated by seeing that they are the hybrid cars that are about to displace to the gasoline ones.
Analyzing sales within the European Union, a series of details have been seen that draw a lot of attention. Probably the most notable thing was that the hybrids accounted for 30.9% of salesbeing very close to gasoline cars, which are the most popular with 33.3%. We still see that a third of sales go to this more traditional modality, while diesel has declined and barely accounts for 11.9% of sales. The key is that the hybrid category, which also includes MHEVs, has grown by 20.9%.
Logically, gasoline ones have fallen by 4.8% and it is expected that in 2025 they will be surpassed by electrified ones. Another key that has been seen in the ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers Association) study is that the plug-in vehicles are on the decline. Despite the need to reach a fully electrified sector, its sales have fallen considerably on our continent. 5.9% fewer electric vehicles were sold than in 2023 and plug-in hybrids fell 6.8%. And total sales in Europe rose slightly and were in the 10.6 million cars.
Currently, we see that the electric represent 13.6% of total sales. For their part, plug-in hybrids remain at 7.1% and it seems that they are not taking off. That means that there is still a large part of the population that is not willing to go to the socketsince almost 80% of sales do not have it. We should also comment on the controversy of putting microhybrids in the same bag as hybrids, something that makes them the winners of this study.
We all know that it is master move that has been taken sleeve manufacturers. With a 48V electrical system that barely serves as a support for the gasoline block, these cars have advantages such as the ECO label in our country. For the majority of the population it is something that makes sense, since they are not much more expensive than traditional combustion ones and they have the benefits of a hybrid. It remains to be seen if the regulations change in this regard, but for the moment it has a lot of weight in sales.
