New car registrations in the European Union dropped by 5.2% in March compared to the same time last year, representing a decrease of 1.03 million vehicles.
The data was reported last Thursday by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), marking this year's first dip. The ACEA suggested that the timing of the Easter holidays negatively impacted new car registrations.
In Belgium, the decline in new car registrations stood at 13.5% in March, the ACEA added. Among the four largest markets, Germany recorded the steepest drop (-6.2%), followed by Spain (-4.7%), Italy (-3.7%) and France (-1.5%).
In March, market shares for all-electric cars in Europe decreased, dropping from 13.9% last year to 13% this year. Conversely, the market share of hybrid cars increased from 24.4% to 29%, while petrol or diesel vehicles dropped from 51.8% to 47.8%, accounting for less than half of the registrations.
Belgium bucked the trend of reducing the number of electric cars. Registrations of all-electric vehicles in the country increased by 23.8% in March, reaching a total of 11,711 cars.
