The data on car registrations in Europe give an indication of the effective remarkable speed at which the market is changing, abandoning traditional diesel, gas and petrol engines and shifting towards electrified and electric cars.
9,908,370 automobiles were registered in the EU in the first 9 months of 2019, while only 7,526,613 were registered in 2021. In the first 9 months of 2020, the dramatic year of Covid, 7,058,090 cars were registered. After 2 years, the European market lost one sale out of four in only 9 months; as many as 2,381,757 car registrations, or around 24%, were lost, meaning that on average, 265 thousand European citizens per month refrained from buying a new car compared to 2019.
The market data, therefore, seems to show a strong change already in progress, with the technological transition also clearly evident; modern electric and electrified technology is maturing commercially and is becoming increasingly desired by buyers, opening up the prospect of a further acceleration. Today, European citizens are wary of buying diesel and petrol cars which will rapidly become obsolete before completing their useful life, no longer being able to freely circulate in the city due to legislative restrictions, effectively losing their residual commercial value.
2022 will be the first year in which Euro 5 diesel cars will be banned from circulation in a number of Italian regions during designated emergency days as a result of excessive air pollution. Euro 5 diesel cars were sold from 1 September 2011 to 1 September 2015, when the specifications of the Euro 6 standard became mandatory. Euro 5 diesel cars, which will be banned from circulating in many Italian cities, have engines which until a few months ago were considered as modern and “ecological”, with low emissions of polluting gases.
In Norway, a pioneering electrification nation, sales of endothermic cars will cease already in 2022, that is, decidedly in advance of government programmes. In Europe the ecological transition of the market demand could be similarly rapid, giving rise to a situation similar to that of Norway: an automobile market moving much more quickly than what is anticipated or imposed by regulations.
Until today, registrations of electric vehicles have also been curbed by the meagre product offer, both as a choice and due to the low availability of supplies, making hybrid cars a preferred choice. Although sectorial studies show that the various hybrid solutions are the most expensive, also in terms of total use and possession (Total Cost of Ownership), it remains an intermediate choice, a choice “of convenience”, prompted by recharging worries and the consolidated habits of drivers, but also, in effect, by the insufficient availability of recharging services in certain geographical areas in Europe. A big push in the sales of the various hybrid models has come from their availability and ready delivery compared to their electrical BEV competitors, which are still suffering from low or non-existent stocks caused by the erroneous forecasts of the car manufacturers.
The car industry must react appropriately to the new demands of the European market, which is proving to be ready for the ecological transition. Reinova is ready to quickly support the validation and production and development of new components and solutions, also software, intended for the electric and hybrid Power train which is increasingly requested by the market.