The Ford Puma is the most produced and best-selling MHEV model in Europe (29 countries) in 2023
- The MHEV engine, which means mild-hybrid, is a thermal engine (petrol or diesel) which is associated with very light electrical assistance (generally 48V) to support the thermal engine during acceleration phases. This allows a small reduction of the vehicle consumption and CO2 emissions.
- Compared to a European market (29 countries = EU + UK + EFTA) of 2.6 million MHEVs in 2023, representing a market share of 20%, the production volume of MHEVs reached 2.15 million units last year, the vast majority of which being marketed in Europe.
- The most produced (and best selling) MHEV in Europe in 2023 is the Ford Puma (143,000 units), a B-segment SUV, ahead of the Fiat Panda (111,000 units) and Fiat 500 (87,000 units). Behind, we note the presence of the Audi A4 (60,000 units), Ford Focus (59,000 units), Nissan Qashqai (56,000 units), Mercedes C-Class (48,000 units) and Volkswagen Golf (45,000 units).
- MHEV models represent around 15% of the European automobile production in 2023, but this figure is expected to increase as the offer is expected to grow significantly in the years to come, both in 48V and 12V. MHEV models could represent 25% of European automobile production in 2030.
- We can see that the MHEV engine, which was first developed by premium carmakers, is now being developed strongly on compact models by mainstreams carmakers. However, if we count the volumes by brand, the Premium carmakers are well represented in the Top 5. Certainly, Ford is the leader (with 242,000 sales) but Audi is second (237,000 sales), BMW is fourth (187,000 sales) and Mercedes is fifth (178,000 sales).