European car registrations fell by 7.1% year-on-year in April, with an even sharper decline in diesel registrations.
Registrations of new diesel engines in Europe declined by 15% last month compared with April 2016, according to research by market analysts JATO Dynamics. That suggests continuing concerns from buyers over the environmental impact of diesel engines, and the continuing fall-out from Dieselgate.
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The decline in diesel registrations mean that the fuel has lost its dominance of the European market, accounting for 46% of the market compared with 50% in April 2016.
In total, 1.22 million cars were registered in Europe in April 2017. The 7.1% year-on-year drop was the largest monthly decline since March 2013. In contrast, overall registrations rose 10.8% year-on-year in March, totalling 1.98 million units.
The fall in registrations was particularly sharp in ‘traditional’ car segments: registrations of compact cars fell 11.9% year-on-year, with MPV registrations dropping 21.3%. By contrast, the SUV sector continued to grow, with registrations rising 7.2%.
In the UK, total registrations dropped to 152,076 in April, a decline of 19.8%, suggesting the impact of new VED rates introduced at the start of the month.
Volkswagen remains the most popular car brand in Europe, with 136,475 registrations, although this was a year-on-year decline of 13.9%. The Volkswagen Golf was Europe’s best-selling car in April, regaining the spot it had held for seven years before being overtaken by the Ford Fiesta in March. The Renault Clio was the second best-selling car, ahead of the Volkswagen Polo and Volkswagen Tiguan. The Fiesta dropped to eighth.
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As Europe sang..
Cheaper diesels
Diesel Diehards had better have deep pockets
Dear spqr...
I'm sick of all these scaremongering stories, none of which have any basis. So if you could let us know which city council is proposing to charge the very latest Euro6 small diesel for entering the city whilst not charging a V12 Rolls Royce on environmental grounds! Common sense would tell us this is tosh and you've simply got your story wrong, but we'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Will you name the city council in question?
scotty5 wrote:
You beat me to it. If I were spqr I'd think of either moving or vote in different councillors. He/she is being ripped off.
To a degree
You have a point but there's not that many V12 Rollers driving around Bristol for example. Anyhow this fiasco is because European Manufacturers got greedy and if the market had stopped at say 20%'ish (e.g no diesel superminis doing 10,000 mpa) we might not be having these discussions.