The slowdown in the European automotive sector continues. September data is bad and Stellantis is very bad as it continues to lose market share. Data from Acea (the European manufacturers’ association) highlight a 4.2% decline in registrations in Europe compared to September 2023 and a 26% loss for the group led by Carlos Tavares. In short, the trend is not reversed.
Car registrations in Western Europe (which includes the European Union, EFTA countries and the United Kingdom) fell by 4.2% compared to the same month of 2023, reaching 1,118,083 vehicles. Although there has been a slight recovery compared to the collapse in August, when the drop was 16.5%, the market remains in difficulty, marked by the contraction in sales of traditional cars and the volatility of sales of electric vehicles.
Among the car manufacturers that have been most affected by the slowdown in the market, Stellantis stands outwhich in September recorded a heavy 26% drop in registrations, reaching 148,306 units sold. Stellantis’ market share thus fell from 17.2% to 13.3%, further worsening a negative trend that characterized the company’s performance in the first nine months of the year. In fact, from January to September, the group sold 1,550,043 vehicles, with a decrease of 6% compared to the same period in 2023.
In recent days, for the group born from the merger between Fiat Chrysler and PSA, the recall of 54,000 hybrid crossover SUVs (due to a problem with the brake pedal) and the lowering of the Outlook have added pressure to an already complex situation. of the group to negative by Moody’s. Not to mention the intervention of the White House which officially asked the company to respect the commitments set out in the industrial plan and investments, in light of the tensions with the unions. And finally the data for the third quarter of 2024 with double-digit losses. Deliveries in Europe fell by 17% and in North America by 36%. Overall, the group’s global deliveries in the quarter fell 20% compared to the same period in 2023.
The decline in the European automotive market was felt in particular in three of the four main markets: France (-11.1%), Italy (-10.7%) and Germany (-7%). Spain goes against the trendwhich recorded an increase of 6.3%, thanks above all to incentives on electric cars. These vehicles, while they helped reduce overall losses in September, continue to exhibit some volatility. In fact, registrations of electric cars decreased by 5.8% at a European level, with a market share falling from 14% to 13.1%. The decline in the German market, where sales of electric vehicles fell by 28.6%, weighed on the overall figure. On the other hand, sales of hybrid cars are growing, gaining 12.5% in September, overtaking petrol cars with a market share of 32.8%. Petrol cars, for their part, saw a decline of 17.9%, while diesel ones suffered an even more marked contraction, with a drop of 23.5%.
Looking at the big car manufacturers, Volkswagen maintained a stable positionwith sales almost unchanged (+0.3%), Renault recorded a decline of 1.5%, while Toyota recorded a +5.1% and Tesla saw a jump in registrations of 31%, benefiting from the growing interest in electric vehicles. However, the sector remains under observation, with expectations for the quarterly results of other players such as Tesla, General Motors, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, which will be crucial to understand how the major manufacturers are navigating.
