With more than 910,000 new registrations in January, the European passenger car market expanded by 11 percent year-over-year.

According to EV Volumes data, shared by Jose Pontes, some 158,727 new passenger plug-in cars were registered in Europe in January (up 3 percent year-over-year). That's a positive outcome, but the growth rate was lower than in the case of the general market.

We guess that it's a natural result of the December rush (before the reduction or end of some incentives in select markets) and that the situation will improve later.

According to the data, all-electric car sales increased by 14 percent (so the market share is still increasing), but plug-in hybrids were down by 10 percent year-over-year.

New plug-in car registrations:

  • BEVs: *93,000 (up 14% year-over-year) and 10% share
  • PHEVs: *65,000 (down 10% year-over-year) and 7% share
  • Total: 158,727 (up 3% year-over-year) and 17% share

* estimated from the market share

Plug-In Electric Car Sales In Europe – January 2023

For reference, in 2022, more than 2.6 million new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered in Europe. That's about 23 percent of the total volume (compared to 19 percent a year earlier and 11 percent two years ago).

  • BEVs: about *1.58 million and 14% share
  • PHEVs: about *1.02 million and 9% share
  • Total: 2,602,431 and 23% share

* estimated from the market share

Top plug-in models

The best-selling plug-in electric car in January was the Tesla Model Y with 7,626 new registrations (including 4,108 in Germany).

Interestingly, the second most popular model was the Volvo XC40 (5,876), but actually only if we count BEV and PHEV versions together.

The third most popular was the Dacia Spring (4,239), which once again indicates how popular entry-level, affordable, small electric vehicles are.

Results last month:

  1. Tesla Model Y - 7,626
  2. Volvo XC40 (BEV + PHEV) - 5,876
  3. Dacia Spring - 4,239
  4. Audi Q4 e-tron - 3,566
  5. Volkswagen ID.3 - 3,370
  6. Volkswagen ID.4 - 3,338
  7. Fiat 500 electric - 3,258
  8. Skoda Enyaq iV - 3,229
  9. Ford Kuga PHEV - 3,056
  10. Kia Niro (BEV + PHEV) - 2,905

For reference, in 2022, the most popular models were the Model Y and Model 3 with respectively 138,373 and 91,257 units.

Top brands and automotive groups

In terms of the most popular plug-in brands, we can see BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo (all premium manufacturers), followed by Volkswagen and Tesla. We guess that Tesla would be at the top when only all-electric vehicles are considered.

Top plug-in brands (share year-to-date):

  • BMW - 8.6%
  • Mercedes-Benz - 8.2%
  • Volvo - 7.8%
  • Volkswagen - 7.7%
  • Tesla - 6.2%
  • Audi - 6.1%
  • Peugeot - 4.9%

Top plug-in automotive groups (share year-to-date):

  • Volkswagen Group - 20.7% share (Volkswagen brand at 7.7%, Audi at 6.1%)
  • Stellantis - 14.1% share
  • Geely–Volvo - 10.7%
  • BMW Group - 10.3% share (BMW brand at 8.6%)
  • Mercedes Group - 9.1% share (Mercedes-Benz brand at 8.2%)
  • Hyundai Motor Group - 9.1 % share
  • Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance - 8.0% share
  • Tesla - 6.2% share
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