European car sales rose in March on strong electric vehicle and hybrid sales, industry data showed on Thursday, with Tesla and BYD logging strong sales growth from last year. 

Total new car registrations rose 11.1% year-on-year in March to 1.58 million units, data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) showed, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.

Battery electric and hybrid electric vehicles were by far the biggest drivers of the rise, surging 41.7% and 15.3%, respectively, while petrol vehicle registrations fell 10.2%. 

Hybrid EVs commanded the largest share of new European vehicle registrations in the first quarter, at 38.6%, followed by petrol, at 22.6%. BEVs took a 19.4% market share. 

Tesla’s sales rebounded sharply in March from last year, with registrations surging 84.3% to 52,600 vehicles. Chinese rival BYD also logged strong growth, with registrations jumping 147.6% to 37,580 vehicles. 

Thursday’s data showed European customers continued to largely favor EV and hybrid options over traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, amid a broad regulatory push to phase out fossil fuel dependence. 

Tesla and BYD have benefited greatly from this trend, with BYD’s lower-priced hybrids seen as popular offerings. The Chinese automaker only recently began expanding aggressively into European markets, after the European Union agreed to drop steep import tariffs on some Chinese brands. 

News.Az 

By Faig Mahmudov