BERLIN: Sales of new battery-electric cars in the European Union dropped 12 percent in May from a year earlier, led by a 30 percent plunge in Germany, data from Europe’s auto industry body showed on Thursday. Germany, the bloc’s largest electric vehicle (EV) market, in December brought an early end to subsidies for buying EVs as part of a last-minute 2024 budget deal. It has now seen a year-to-date 16 percent decline in EV sales, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).

Overall new car sales in the bloc fell by 3 percent in May from the same month in 2023, the second drop this year, and were down 2.6 percent in a wider region covering the EU, Britain and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the ACEA said.

Demand for EVs in Europe has cooled in recent months, after rising strongly for several years, while competition to produce more affordable models has grown. To shield domestic automakers from an influx of cheap EV imports, the European Commission said last week it would impose provisional duties of up to 38.1 percent on China-made EVs starting July.

US electric carmaker Tesla said last week it expected to increase the price of its China-made Model 3 when the EU measures come into effect. Elon Musk’s company recorded a 34.2 percent drop in May sales in the EU. The current stagnation of the EV market has been expected for years but sales should pick up from 2025 when the next EU car emission targets kick in, European campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E) said in a briefing on Thursday.

Electrified vehicles — fully electric models, plug-in hybrids and full hybrids — accounted for 48.9 percent of all new EU passenger car registrations in May, up from 46.2 percent a year earlier. While the market share of fully electric cars fell to 12.5 percent from 13.8 percent in May 2023, the share of hybrids rose to 29.9 percent from 25 percent.

Total EU registrations for Volkswagen rose 1.6 percent in May, while Stellantis and Renault saw registrations fall 6.9 percent and 5.4 percent respectively. Toyota’s sales were up 13 percent, the data showed. — Reuters