The Volvo EX30 won again

10,253 new passenger cars in May is down 23.2 per cent compared to the same period last year. The conclusion so far this year is 43,746 cars with an accumulated decline of 16 per cent.

The new Volvo EX30 continues to excite and also climbed to the top of the registration statistics in May ahead of the VW ID.4. Tesla Model Y and Toyota Yaris followed in the next places. And while the ID.4 increased by 568 per cent and the Yaris by 219 per cent compared to May last year, the decline for the Model Y was as much as 74 per cent.

Tesla leads so far

But don’t write Tesla off. Cumulatively, Tesla is still 1,665 cars ahead of Volkswagen, which is number two on the OFV list with Toyota close behind. And on the model statistics, the EX30 and ID.4 will do well in the next seven months to catch up with the Model Y, which leads with nearly 3,300 cars on the two.

The fact that the proportion of electric cars in May fell to below 77 per cent and the lowest level since 2022 is primarily due to changed VAT rules for leasing and renting from 1 July.

The winner is the hybrid cars, which accounted for 12.2 per cent of passenger car volume, up 4.4 percentage points from the same month last year. Diesel cars are also winners, with a nearly doubled share to 4.26 per cent.

This distribution of powertrains is expected to remain throughout June.

Violent Toyota Yaris lift

The temporary change in drivetrain interest has primarily given Toyota a tremendous boost. Almost six out of ten new fossil, hybrid and rechargeable cars in May were delivered by Toyota, and this gave Toyota a total market share of 17.5 per cent, with the Yaris as the winner. One in five new fossil/hybrid/chargeable models was a Yaris. Cumulatively, the Yaris Cross tops the mentioned statistics ahead of the Rav4 and Yaris.

Now, the high Yaris volume in May is due not only to changed VAT rules, but also to the launch of an upgraded model.

Skoda also came out of May as a winner, but with diesel models. Just over seven out of ten new diesel cars were Skodas, with the Octavia station wagon completely superior ahead of the Kodiaq and Superb.

Used imports on the rise

Even with modest numbers, second-hand imports are on the rise with the electric cars winning. Six out of ten used imports were electric in May, with the Tesla Model Y at the top ahead of the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model 3. The same distribution applies cumulatively.

The aforementioned imminent changes to the VAT rules pushed the business share of car purchases up to a whopping 56.7 per cent in May.

The AWD share remains stable in that just under two out of three new passenger cars are equipped with 4×4.

The passenger car stock (new plus second-hand imported minus scrapped and exported) has increased by 9,465 units in the first five months of the year and was 2,865,026 at the end of the month.

Key figures May 2024 (May 2023)

* Total volume: 10,253 passenger cars (-23.2%)

* Electric cars: 77.0% (80.8%)

* Hybrids: 12.2% (7.8%)

* Plug-in hybrids: 5.3% (8.1%)

* Diesel cars: 4.3% (2.1%)

* Petrol cars: 1.2% (1.2%)

* 4×4: 64.8% (64.6%)
* Change of ownership: 41,735 cars (-7.1%)
* Used imports: 654 cars (56.9%)