The chip crisis continues to weigh on the car market in Europe.
The number of new car registrations in September fell by 23 percent compared to the same month last year to 718,598 units, the European manufacturers association ACEA announced on Friday.
That is the lowest September value since 1995. The main cause is the lack of semiconductors.
From January to September, ACEA recorded an increase of 6.6 percent to 7.5 million vehicles compared to the same period of the previous year, which was burdened by the corona pandemic.
Sales are almost a quarter below that of 2019. "The hope that the EU new car market can recover from the crisis year 2020 in the course of 2021 was premature," said Peter Fuß, car expert at the management consultancy EY.
For the year as a whole, he expects sales at the low level of the previous year.
Demand cannot be met
The delivery problems with computer chips and other parts are slowing down car production and thus the supply. “The demand is great, but the industry cannot meet it,” said Fuß, describing the situation. The automakers counter this by focusing on the most profitable models and giving fewer discounts. Nevertheless, due to the now massive production downtimes, considerable losses in sales are to be expected. "The industry is facing very difficult months," warned the expert. A noticeable easing of the situation can only be expected in the middle of next year.
The shortage of chips also slows the market ramp-up of the new electric car models.
Nevertheless, thanks to government incentives to buy, their market share is growing.
In the five largest car markets in Western Europe, a good every fifth new vehicle in September was, according to EY, a pure electric car or a plug-in hybrid.
The battery electric cars were ahead of the hybrids, which still have an internal combustion engine on board.
For the first time in Germany, more electric cars than new diesel vehicles were on the road.
“The diesel is increasingly becoming a marginal phenomenon in the car market,” said Fuß.