61ᵉ edition of Autofestival
From 25 January to 3 February, dealers across the country will be offering great deals to mark the 61ᵉ edition of Autofestival. An opportunity to take stock of the past year’s sales.
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Electric cars hold their own in Luxembourg
A few days after the Brussels Motor Show, a host of new vehicles will be heading to Luxembourg to take part in Autofestival, the not-to-be-missed event organised by the Fédération des distributeurs automobiles et de la mobilité (Fédamo).
On the programme: more than 50 new products to be previewed in over 170 showrooms and 90 dealerships. Fédamo has announced the presence of five world premieres in Luxembourg and some fifty new models. This is a vital event for professionals, who generate around 35% of their annual sales in just two months.
Market down 5.1
Last year, the SNCA registered 46,635 new cars, compared with 49,155 a year earlier. This represents a fall of 5.1%. A drop that does not worry industry professionals overmuch. By way of comparison, Luxembourg is following the trend in its neighbouring countries, which are also seeing falls in registrations: Germany is down by -1% compared to 2023 (but -25% compared to 2019), France has announced a fall of -3.4% and Belgium by -6% compared to last year’. This is a trend at European level, but what we are seeing above all is a return to normal in our business after the post-covid period’, emphasises Philippe Mersch, President of Fédamo.
‘Sales to private individuals accounted for 45% of sales, an increase of 10%. This suggests that we are on a good trend and that there is a demand for new vehicles. On the other hand, the market has suffered from the economic slowdown on the part of businesses,’ he added. ‘I can also confirm this trend and this return to normality, with delivery times for new models now at 3-4 months, equivalent to what we experienced before the health crisis,’ emphasised Marc Devillet, Vice-Chairman of Fédamo.
Electric vehicles on a positive trend
Despite what we may hear about a lack of consumer enthusiasm for electric cars, the figures for 2024 clearly demonstrate an appetite for models that consume watts.
‘More than one in four new cars was an electric car in 2024,’ says Manuel Ruggiu, director of the Société nationale de circulation automobile (SNCA). In detail, 29.6% of new registrations last year were petrol-engined cars and 27.4% were 100% electric cars. These figures are on the rise, since by 2023 they will account for 22.5% of new registrations. At 12,777 units, new 100% electric car registrations have even jumped by 15.5% in one year, and hybrids by 10.4%. Plug-in hybrids, on the other hand, are in free fall, with a 20.4% drop in new registrations.
This upward trend can be explained by continued subsidies, strong purchasing power and a network of charging points that is beginning to bear fruit. ‘In my opinion, this year’s biggest challenge will be to further improve access to a charging point so as to continue this trend, particularly in businesses and industrial and economic zones, as well as in homes,’ emphasises Philippe Mersch.
In Luxembourg, after petrol and 100% electric, 22.4% of new registrations were hybrids, 12.3% diesels and only 8.2% plug-in hybrids.
Electric cars in sharp decline in Germany
At European level, the trend is quite different, with sales of electric cars falling in 14 of the 27 EU countries last November, their market share dropping from 16.3% to 15%, according to EY. In Germany alone, sales of electric vehicles fell by 27.4% last year.
As a direct result of the rise in electric vehicles, but also of efforts to improve combustion engines, average emissions from new cars registered between 2014 and 2024 fell by 38.2% to an average of 99.3g of CO2/km.
Luxembourg’s fleet remains relatively stable, with an increase of 0.8% to 457,185 cars with yellow plates. Including vans, the fleet stands at 500,073 vehicles, an increase of 0.8% in one year. The road car fleet comprises 43.3% petrol vehicles, 36.8% diesel, 9% hybrids, 7.1% 100% electric and 3.8% plug-in hybrids.
The family estate remains in the lead
In terms of car type, the SNCA found that 43.1% of new registrations were of the ‘AC Family Estate’ body type, including the Audi Q5, the Dacia Duster, the Renault Clio estate and the Passat estate. This is a good opportunity to point out that SUVs, crossovers, city cars, grand tourers, etc. are purely marketing names.
In second place comes the ‘AB hatchback’ segment, with 29.4% of new registrations, and the ‘AF multi-purpose vehicle’ segment, which includes the Citroën C3 Aircross, the Volvo XC90, the Fiat 600 and the Tesla Model Y.
Support for electric cars remains a selling point
The new electromobility support scheme came into force on 1 October 2024, and now stipulates that the holding period will be increased to 36 months (from 12 months) and that the maximum premium for the purchase of an electric car will be capped at €6,000 (from €8,000) for vehicles whose electric energy consumption does not exceed 16 kWh/100 km. As a result, the level of support remains very high, especially as the government has decided to introduce a €1,500 subsidy for second-hand electric vehicles to ensure that the electrification of the car fleet meets the targets set out in the PNEC.