Oct 20 (Reuters) - New car sales in the European Union rose 9.2% in September, helped by a jump in sales of electric and hybrid vehicles, which together accounted for more than half of car sales last month, industry data showed on Friday.
Together, fully-electric cars, plug-in hybrids and full hybrids accounted for just over 50% of sales, the data showed.
As recently as 2015, diesel vehicles comprised more than 50% of new car sales in the EU.
Car sales in Europe have been steadily recovering from pandemic-related supply chain problems, most notably a global shortage of semiconductor chips.
Despite 14 straight months of growth, car sales for the first nine months of 2023 remain 20% below the same period in 2019 before the pandemic.
Persons:
Miranda Murray, Matthias Williams, Susan Fenton
Organizations:
Union, European Automobile Manufacturers Association, Diesel, Volkswagen, Renault, European Free Trade Association, Thomson
Locations:
Europe, EU, Britain