New car sales in Bulgaria grow faster than the average for the EU

In Bulgaria, new car sales are growing three times faster than the average for the European Union. In October, new car sales in the EU increased by just 1.1%, while in Bulgaria this figure was 3%, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association.

This year, 75.9% of registered cars in Bulgaria are petrol-powered, followed by 15% diesel.

Hybrid and electric vehicles remain the least represented among new registrations. This trend is the opposite of what’s happening in the EU, where over 50% of new registrations are for sustainable vehicles.

In October 2024, new car registrations in the EU reversed the downward trend and saw a modest increase of 1.1%. Spain led with a significant rise of 7.2%, while Germany rebounded by 6% after three months of decline. However, decreases were noted in France (-11.1%) and Italy (-9.1%).

Registrations of battery-electric vehicles rose by 2.4% to 124,907 units in October 2024. Nevertheless, the market volume since the beginning of the year remains 4.9% lower than in the same period last year, with a total market share of 14.4%. This decline is primarily due to a sharp drop in registrations in Germany (-26.6%).

Plug-in hybrid vehicle registrations fell by 7.2% last month, following significant declines in France (-26.9%) and Italy (-24.9%).

Registrations of hybrid-electric vehicles increased by 17.5%, with their market share growing to 33.3%, up from 28.6% in October last year. For the second consecutive month, they exceed the registrations of petrol cars.

Sales of petrol cars dropped by 6.8% overall. The largest decline was seen in France, where registrations fell by 32.7%, followed by Italy with a decrease of 10.1%.

Currently, petrol cars account for 30.8% of the market, down from 33.4% in the same month last year. The market for diesel vehicles also shrank by 7.6%, resulting in a market share of 10.9% in October last year. Overall, reductions were observed in nearly two-thirds of EU markets.

Source: BGNES