The European light utility vehicle market grew by 6.9% in 2024
- The European market (30 countries: EU + United Kingdom + Switzerland + Norway) for light utility vehicles (LUV) increased by 6.9% in 2024, to 2,002,023 units compared to 1,872,519 in 2023. This is the best result in four years, but we are still far from the figures achieved in 2018 or 2019, and even more so from the figures achieved in 2007 – just before the financial crisis – the year which still holds the record for LUV sales in Europe (2,299,000 sales).
- The countries that traditionally have the highest demand for this type of vehicle remain France (379,747 units; +1.1%), the United Kingdom (354,265 units; +2.7%), Germany (281,078 units; +8.4%), Italy (198,517 units; +0.9%) and Spain (166,157 units; +13.7%).
- In terms of engines, diesel remains largely dominant, since 85% of LUVs are equipped with this type of engine (1,702,230 units; +8.8%) in 2024. Plug-in electric vehicles (BEV and PHEV) only represent 130,523 units in 2024, a decrease of 7.7% compared to 2023, mainly attributable to Germany (-27.9%), Italy (-40.9%) and Spain (-27.9%). These plug-in electric engines represented 6.5% of the LUV market in 2024 in Europe. The road to achieving a fully electric LUV market in 2035 will be long. Gasoline engines represented only 5.2% of LUV sales in 2024 in Europe, or 104,871 units and full-hybrid engines only 2.0% with 40,533 units.
- The leading LUV carmaker in Europe in 2024 remains Stellantis, ahead of Ford and Renault.