ROMA – In the first quarter of the year, the alternative fuel car market in Europe grew dramatically. The Focus of the Anfia Studies and Statistics Area clearly states this, specifying impressive numbers. In the EU area, extended to include the United Kingdom and EFTA (an international association made up of Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland), there were over 3 million new registrations, in line with the volumes of the first quarter of 2020 (+ 0.5% ), but compared to a year ago petrol cars recorded a drop of 19.1% and diesel cars even 23.4%, while alternative fuel cars grew by 90%.
The most significant growth concerns Phevs (Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) with + 154%, followed by traditional hybrids (+ 90%) and battery electric vehicles (+ 55%). Natural gas cars are the only low-emission cars to drop compared to 2020 (-11.3%), but they constitute a very marginal part of the market (0.5%). In the first quarter, consumers mainly chose electrified models, bringing market shares to 14.7% for rechargeable (of which 6.6% pure electric and 8.1% Phev) and to 19.3% for traditional hybrids.
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