Diesel car registrations in Europe fell by 7.9 per cent in 2017

Figures from JATO show that the volume of new diesel registrations fell by 7.9% to 6.76 million units (data excludes Hungary), accounting for 43.7% of total registrations in 2017. This is the lowest market share for the diesel segment for 10 years.

Petrol cars meanwhile grew by 10.9% - an increase of 760,000 units. Comparatively, AFVs accounted for only 4.8% of registrations, a total of 737,400 units, which was a volume change of 46.1% on the previous year. These registrations were split between hybrid technology, electric and plug-in vehicles.

Overall, new registrations in Europe totalled 15.57 million in 2017, an increase of 3.1% when compared to 2016 and the highest volume of registrations since 2007 when 16.02 million units were registered.

The vast majority of market growth in 2017 was driven by SUVs, which posted a record 4.56 million registrations in 2017. Comparatively, SUV registrations in 2016 were just 3.81 million units - meaning volume for the segment grew by 19.5% in 2017. As a result, market share for SUVs has jumped from 25.2% in 2016 to 29.3% in 2017.