Old Hat: European Sale of Diesel Cars Overtaken by Gasoline for the First Time Since 2009

Diesel-powered passenger vehicle sales have fallen in Europe. Data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) showed diesel’s year-over-year market share plummeting in the first half of 2017, sinking from 50.2 percent to 46.3 percent of all new car registrations in the EU.

Helped by negative publicity and governmental intervention, it’s the first time diesels have dipped below the 50 percent mark since 2009. ACEA’s figures indicate 152,323 fewer diesel cars sold so far in 2017, attributing some of the decline to a renewed interest in gasoline-powered vehicles. Of course, if you aren’t buying diesel, you don’t have a lot of other options.

Still, deliveries of “alternative” vehicles — which include hybrid, electric, and natural gas-powered automobiles — also rose by more than 35 percent. Those categories now account for 5.2 percent of Europe’s total auto sales.

It’s not terribly surprising. With most German automakers involved in some kind of of diesel emissions investigation over the last few years, the fuel’s image has taken a major PR hit. Meanwhile, electrically-driven cars have been praised as the green solution we’ve all been waiting for.

Hoping to encourage the change, much of Europe has implemented tax breaks for EV adopters. While this is also a common practice in North America, some European countries are taking things a step further with proposed timelines that would essentially ban all sales of internal combustion vehicles by 2040.

France has also been attempting to strip longstanding incentives from diesel sales and Paris has a plan to prohibit diesel-powered cars from entering the city by 2025. Other cities have proposed similar solutions to air quality issues in urban areas.

Despite its large population, Germany is one of the few countries dragging its feet. While its government has proposed similar bans, support for those initiatives remains limited — possibly because of the country’s strong connection to the automotive industry.

While the European shift away from diesels is likely to to reduce soot and NOx emissions from its atmosphere, ACEA warned that more gasoline engines could make it difficult for the region to meet CO2 reduction targets. “Policy makers need to be aware that a sudden shift from diesel technology to petrol will lead to an increase in CO2 emissions, given that the market penetration of alternative powertrains remains low,” explained ACEA secretary general Erik Jonnaert.

“Alternative powertrains will undoubtedly play an increasing role in the transport mix, and all European manufacturers are investing heavily in them,” Jonnaert said in a statement. “To this end, more needs to be done to encourage consumers to buy alternatively-powered vehicles, for instance by putting in place the right incentives and deploying recharging infrastructure across the EU.”

“In the meantime, however, as diesel cars emit significantly less CO2 than equivalent petrol-powered vehicles, they will have to be part of the gradual transition to low-carbon vehicles, acting as a ‘bridge’ technology.