European market 2022: diesel holds up

Praised in the 2000s thanks to its huge technological advances even by markets where diesel is more expensive than petrol, diesel is currently suffering the backlash of this madness. The new energy miracle is electricity, subsidized far beyond what diesel benefits from, almost everywhere in Europe.

So one might think that diesel engines, accused of many evils, would be on the verge of disappearing. The reality is a little different. In fact, according to Schmidt Automotive Research, in 18 countries of the European Union (14 before the 2004 enlargement, plus Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and the United Kingdom) the market share of diesels has admittedly fallen from 53.1% in 2015 to 20%. in June 2022. Only in the same period did the share of electric drive grow from 0.5% to 12.3%, which is still below that of diesel. This is the lowest reading for electric cars since December 2021, when zero-emission cars peaked at 20%, outperforming diesel.

Also in June 2022, electrics grew by just 3% in a market downturn of 17%. The cause ? A supply that cannot meet demand, due to the semiconductor crisis, the closure of the Tesla factory in China, due to a recovery from Covid, but also – and above all – the post-war unrest in Ukraine, where electrical wire harnesses are manufactured . In addition, the UK ended its subsidies for electric vehicle purchases on June 14 as the market for these cars across the Channel has matured. The forecast of 14% electric in Europe should still be achieved, with a jump expected in the second half of the year. The order books of the manufacturers are well filled, the VW Group, for example, has 300,000 electric cars to deliver.

Pumped up diesels

Diesels are less affected by these insults, at least visually. In fact, their numbers would be artificially inflated by sales to landlords in markets like Germany. However, the rise in fuel prices there is hitting diesel particularly hard, as in France, where it has gone from cheaper than unleaded to over 98. But manufacturers have traditionally used rental companies with important fleets to sell unloved models, which would be the case at the moment, including many diesels ordered a few years ago.

In France, diesel vehicles account for 16.8% of the market over 6 months 2022, compared to 12.1% for electric vehicles. Quite a drop from not so long ago when they made up two-thirds of sales! Nevertheless, they resist here too. In addition, without the subsidies granted to electric vehicles, which always exceed them commercially, they would benefit from a much larger share, which would be amplified if they could benefit from the Crit’Air 1 badge.other than logical, given their real pollution …