EV growth cools in Europe as Tesla sales fall 49%
Overall car sales in the region remained roughly consistent with last year, falling only 0.3%, with the strongest sales growth coming from electric and plug-in hybrid cars, data by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (Acea) showed.
Tesla's sales in Europe continue to drop, reflecting a shift away from the brand as Chinese competition strengthens and some protest against CEO Elon Musk's political views.
European carmakers are striving to cut domestic costs and tackle competition amid US tariffs on car imports and a slowing global economy, with uncertainty overshadowing the industry's outlook despite eased US-China trade tensions.
April sales in the EU, Britain and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) fell to 1.07-million cars after 2.8% growth a month before, the Acea data showed.
Registrations at Chinese state-owned carmaker SAIC Motor and Mitsubishi grew by 24.5% and 22.1% respectively, while they fell by 24.5% at Mazda.
Tesla's sales fell for a fourth month in a row, down 49% year-on-year, and its share of the total market nearly halved to 0.7% from 1.3% a year ago.
In the EU, not including Britain and the EFTA, total car sales fell 1.2% year-on-year, declining for a fourth consecutive month, as the registrations of battery electric (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and hybrid electric (HEV) cars grew by 26.4%, 7.8% and 20.8% respectively.
Electrified vehicles - either BEV, HEV or PHEV - sold in the bloc accounted for 59.2% of passenger car registrations in April, up from 47.7% in the year before.
Among the largest EU markets, total car sales in Spain and Italy increased by 7.1% and 2.7% respectively, while in France and Germany they dropped by 5.6% and 0.2%.
In Britain, registrations were down 10.4%.
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