The deep decline in electric car sales in Europe is causing Poland to lose one of its export specializations, reports Friday's “Rzeczpospolita.” Battery exports have fallen by more than half this year.
The daily emphasizes that the European electric car market is “scrubbishing the bottom”. In August, their the share of new passenger car sales dropped to 14.4 percent from 21 percent. at the same time a year ago – reports “Rz”, citing data from the European Association of Automobile Manufacturers ACEA.
The electric car market is declining
“Rz” points out that August turned out to be the fourth consecutive month of declinewhich contrasts strongly with the growing demand for electric cars from month to month last year.
“The biggest declines were recorded in markets that are the most important for battery-powered car sales. In Germany, sales fell by almost 69%, in Italy by 40%, and in France by a third. In Sweden, which is already quite electrified, demand fell by 30%, and in Spain by a quarter,” the newspaper reports.
Poland is experiencing a drop in demand for “electric cars”
The drop in demand for battery cars is also visible in Poland. “According to ACEA data, in August the number of their registrations decreased year-on-year by a quarter, although sales counted from January show a 1 percent increase,” “Rz” reported. For the entire EU, the drop in sales of electric cars amounted to almost 44 percent and was more than twice as big as the drop in the entire market of new passenger cars.
This makes it automotive companies are reducing production“The first very drastic step was announced by Volkswagen, which intends to close two plants,” “Rz” points out.
Cuts in orders are putting the manufacturers of lithium-ion batteries and components operating in Poland on the back foot. As reported by the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) on Thursday, in the first seven months of 2024, battery exports worth EUR 3.2 billion decreased by over 58% compared to the period January-July 2023 – we read in the text of “Rzeczpospolita”.