New car registrations increased in Romania by 1.6% in October this year compared to the same period in 2023, a margin in which “electrified” cars reported a 2.8% jump and a market share of 26.8 %, shows the data published on Wednesday by the Association of Automobile Manufacturers and Importers (APIA).
On a general level, new vehicle registrations decreased by 0.07% compared to October last year, but increased by 29.6% compared to September 2024, according to Agerpres.
In the segment of cars, in the analyzed period, a volume of 11,464 new units (+1.6%) was recorded, and in the first ten months the registrations of new cars are increasing by +3.6%.
According to the quoted source, in terms of market share, the SUV segment is in the first position, with a share of 51% (+11.2%), followed by Class C – with a share of 29.8% (+15, 9%) and Class B – with a share of 13.1% (-15.5%).
Depending on the type of fuel of the registered cars, in October of this year, petrol plus mild hybrid engines registered a 2% increase compared to the same period in 2023, up to a total share of 62%.
At the same time, cars equipped with diesel plus mild hybrid engines reported a decrease of 3.5% from one year to another, with a market share of 11.2%.
APIA data reveals the fact that “electrified” cars, namely electric cars (100% and plug-in hybrids), as well as full hybrids (which also have electric propulsion without charging from an external source) have reached a market share of 26 .8%, with 15.6 percentage points above the share held by diesel engines, a category in which mild hybrid diesel engines are also included.
Also, fully electric cars have a 4.9% share of the market in October 2024, compared to the same month of the previous year, when they represented 10%, while plug-in hybrid cars have a 5% market share , compared to 4.3% in October 2023.
During the past month, the first three best-selling 100% electric cars were: Tesla Model 3 – with 109 units and an increase of 54% compared to the same period of the previous year, Tesla Model Y – with 51 units (-63% ) and Hyundai Kona – with 41 units.
In the category of Plug-in cars, the sales ranking is led by Ford Kuga, with 62 units (+14.8%), followed by Hyundai Tucson – with 61 units (+74%) and BMW X1 – with 30 units.
At the same time, hybrid cars, without recharging from external sources, are in first place with Toyota RAV4 – with 299 units (+97% compared to October 2023), then Toyota Corolla – with 235 units and Dacia Duster (208 units).
According to the specialized analysis, light commercial vehicles and minibuses recorded, in October, a 3.2% increase in sales (vs. October 2023), of which only light commercial vehicles without minibuses recorded a 1.2% decrease. For the entire period of this year, compared to the same period in 2023, the market of light commercial vehicles increased by 21.8%.
In contrast, sales of heavy commercial vehicles and buses decreased by 24.7%, a margin in which heavy commercial vehicles, over 16 tons, plus tractors registered a 26.2% setback in October, this year, compared to the same month in 2023.