New car sales in Europe rose 4.9 per cent in October as electric cars outpaced petrol and diesel registrations, European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association data showed on Tuesday.

The European car industry has taken a series of hits this year including U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, a slowdown in the Chinese market, and a slower-than-expected transition to electric vehicles.

Recently, concerns about a potential chip supply chain crisis surrounding Dutch chipmaker Nexperia had also added fuel to the fire.

Meanwhile, Chinese electric car exports to Europe are increasing.

Sales in the European Union, Britain and the European Free Trade Association rose to 1.092 million cars in October as its largest markets including Germany and Britain added more new cars than last year, ACEA data showed.

Registrations at Volkswagen, Stellantis and Renault rose year-on-year by 6.5 per cent, 4.6 per cent and 10.6 per cent, respectively. Despite Stellantis’ registrations being down 4.7 per cent year-to-date compared to the same period in 2024.

Tesla’s sales meanwhile dropped 48.5 per cent from a year ago as BYD’s sales jumped 206.8 per cent, now holding 1.6 per cent of the market share from 0.5 per cent in October 2024. Registrations of Chinese-owned SAIC Motor also jumped 35.9 per cent from last year.

Total EU car sales rose 5.8 per cent. Registrations of battery electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid electric cars were up 38.6 per cent, 43.2 per cent and 9.4 per cent, respectively, to account collectively for about 63.9 per cent of the bloc’s registrations, up from 55.4 per cent in October 2024.

All major markets saw drops in their petrol and diesel

Overall sales rose 7.8 per cent in Germany, 0.5 per cent in the UK, 15.9 per cent in Spain, 2.9 per cent in France and fell 0.5 per cent in Italy.

“Despite this recent positive momentum, overall volumes remain far below pre-pandemic levels,” ACEA said.

“The battery-electric car market share reached 16.4 per cent year to date, yet it is still below the pace needed at this stage of the transition,” it added.