The market for new passenger cars in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein shows clear signs of braking in July: New registrations decreased by 3.2 percent. With 135,542 new registrations after seven months, this results in only a 2.1 percent increase compared to the low level of the previous year. Thus, there is still no talk of a sustainable trend reversal: The economic situation of the Swiss automotive industry remains extremely challenging, while the overall market continues to lag behind developments in Europe due to self-imposed over-regulation.
Plug-in vehicles on par with hybrid drives
The demand for electrified vehicles has also developed positively in July. Both purely electric drives and plug-in hybrids have increased by more than 20 percent compared to the previous year since the beginning of the year. Purely electric passenger cars (BEV) and plug-in hybrids (PHEV) account for 24.2 and 12.4 percent of new registrations, respectively, since the beginning of the year. Their combined market share now makes up 36.6 percent of new registrations, equaling that of hybrid drives, the previously largest drive category. In contrast, the demand for cars with purely petrol and diesel engines continues to decline: Diesel passenger cars have lost nearly a quarter since the beginning of the year.
Thomas Rücker, Director of auto-schweiz, comments: 'The electrification of the vehicle fleet continued in July and is progressing gradually. Numerous measures by manufacturers and importers have made this possible: a wide range of offerings in all price and vehicle classes, adequate ranges, and low operating costs. The July figures also show that the economic challenges for our industry remain immense. Therefore, we will not relent in combating over-regulation, as outlined in the eight demands of auto swiss at the beginning of the year. Swiss politics is called upon to strengthen the motor of the economy by improving the regulatory framework.'
The detailed figures by brand are available at www.auto.swiss. The evaluations by auto-schweiz are based on federal surveys; the data may be preliminary and incomplete.
Press Contact:
Frank Keidel
Spokesperson
T 076 399 69 06
frank.keidel@auto.swiss