Single Article - The Association of European Vehicle Logistics

ACEA — 2023-12-07

Automotive Industry

ACEA’s Economic and Market Report provides current and forecast data on car sales, production, and trade in Europe and global markets.

Key insights

Sales

EU car sales surged by almost 17% in the first three quarters of 2023, with 12% growth forecast for the full year
EU car sales are expected to increase by 2.5% in 2024, albeit at a slower pace compared to 2023
Battery-electric car sales grew by 55% in the first three quarters of 2023. The share of battery-electric models is expected to rise to 14.5% by the end of 2023
Japanese and US car sales experienced robust growth in the first three quarters of 2023, growing by almost 18% and over 15%, respectively
Conversely, China’s car market stalled in the first three quarters of 2023, growing nominally by 0.2%
Globally, car sales grew by almost 9% in the first three quarters of 2023

Production

Over nine million cars were produced in the EU in the first three quarters of 2023, a 14% increase from the same period in 2022
The US produced almost six million cars, growing by 11.2
China produced 17.5 million cars in the first three quarters, growing at a slower pace of 4.7% compared to other major car-producing regions
Japan produced 5.6 million cars in the first three quarters, an 18.5% growth

Trade

EU car trade recorded a €70 million trade surplus in the first three quarters of 2023, a 4.7% increase
China was the top importer of EU-made cars both in volume and value terms, growing by an impressive 58.1%, representing 17.2% of the market
The US and UK car import markets grew by an impressive 62.4% and 33.2%, respectively
In the first three quarters of 2023, the export value of EU-made cars to the UK and the US increased by 28.1% and 16%, respectively – in China, the export value retracted by almost 18%