The downward trend of the European automotive market continued in October. For the fourth consecutive month, in fact, registrations showed a double-digit percentage decrease: -30.3% compared to the same period of 2020 (665,001 units registered).

The negative trend was mainly due to the severe supply shortage of semiconductors and microchips, which continued to bring the entire automotive sector to its knees, causing a forced stop to the production lines of many factories.

On the other hand, if we consider the period January-October, the trend is upwards: the volumes registered amounted to 8,191,709 units, registering a + 2.2% compared to 2020, the year of the Covid-19 crisis which has paralyzed the world automotive market.

As regards the major markets, Italy and Germany recorded the most significant decrease in the past month (respectively -35.7% and -34.9%).

A negative sign also for the other big Europeans, which reported very marked decreases: France -30.7%, United Kingdom -24.6% and Spain -20.5%.

On the front of the big players in the auto sector, Volkswagen Group was confirmed in first place in terms of volumes in Europe with 134,103 units sold, but lost 44% compared to October 2020.

The other groups shared the same negative fate: Stellantis suffered a significant loss of 33% (147,808), while Renault closed at -31.7% (76,705).

The only case in countertrend was Hyundai Group, which recorded a positive annual change of 3.7% (70,984) and a recovery of 20.3% on 2020 over the period between January and October. Registrations were also down for BMW (-22.7%) and Toyota (-21.7%).

Finally, moving on to power supplies, Italy was still at the top in terms of penetration of HEV hybrid cars, thanks to incentives for the 61-135 g / km range and independence from the charging infrastructure. With regard to pure electric vehicles (BEVs), on the other hand, the largest share in October went to Germany, which reached 30% of registrations, followed by the United Kingdom (15.2%). In addition, in both countries there was a considerable shift in demand from diesel and gasoline to pure electric or HEV hybrid solutions.