ILMA Compoundings September 2017 - 21

costs, they could be more attractive to
consumers.
However, as the tax cut on smallengine cars comes to an end, subsidies
on electric vehicles are cut and the
broader economy slows, 2017 could
be a tough year for the auto industry
in China.

2016 PASSENGER CAR SALES
80
70

NORTH AMERICA
GOES LARGE

MILLIONS

In North America, a record 17.55
million light-duty vehicles were sold
in 2016. Although two-thirds of these
sales were passenger cars, low fuel prices saw sales of compact and midsize
vehicles fall, as customers opted for
larger pickups, SUVs and crossovers.
The forecast indicates that light-duty
sales will continue to grow, but the
timeline for the introduction of tighter
fuel economy and emissions legislation
means there could be a change in the
vehicle market.
Hybrids are currently the most
popular of the alternative fuel vehicle
(AFV) categories. This is broadly
because the price penalty for hybrids
is less than other AFVs and there is
greater model variety. However, sales
were down by 9.7 percent in 2016,
and with just 347,029 sales, the technology represents only 2 percent of the
total light-duty market.
Sales of battery and hydrogen fuel
cell electric cars reached just over
85,000 in 2016, and sales of plugin electric vehicles reached almost
73,000. These figures might be up
over 2015 numbers, but they are still
way behind target. The U.S. government has announced investment
in an electric infrastructure, and a
number of vehicle manufacturers have
agreed to work together to jump-start
additional charging stations on main
travel corridors. This activity might
provide a spark for the electric vehicle
market, but sales are likely to be slow
to materialize.

60
50
40
30
20
10
0

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Africa
Asia ME & Oceania
China
America
Europe
Data source OICA-oica.net
©Infineum International Limited 2017. All rights reserved

In the near future, it looks highly
likely that North American consumers
will continue to choose vehicles at
least partially powered by a gasoline
internal combustion engine.

DIESEL DOWN BUT NOT
OUT IN EUROPE

Europe has seen a third consecutive
year of growth, with passenger car sales
up 5.4 percent from 2015. While sales
were up in most countries, Italy and
Spain were hot spots, both experiencing
double-digit percentage growth.
The indication had been that
Volkswagen's "dieselgate" scandal
would have a large negative impact
on the region's diesel passenger car

sales. While there has certainly been a
slight decline in market share, it's not
as significant as many people in the
industry had expected.
Gasoline vehicle sales grew from
43.7 percent of the market in 2015 to
45.8 percent last year. Diesel's share
over the same period fell by about two
percentage points to 49.5 percent.
However, absolute diesel sales still
increased compared to 2015.
In 2016, Europe also saw an increase
in sales of hybrid, electric and other
AFVs with over 609,000 new registrations. Most uplift was from hybrid electric vehicles, which had sales 27 percent
higher than the previous year. Electric
vehicles took second place in the AFV

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ILMA Compoundings September 2017

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