Sales prospects for cars and SUVs in Western Europe are fading fast with forecasts dropping into negative territory as economic prospects weaken, and even the rock-solid electric car revolution is likely to take a breather over the next couple of years.
Western Europe’s battery-electric vehicle (BEV) sales more than doubled in 2020 to just under 750,000 and jumped again in 2021 with sales of 1,143,000 or 10.3% of the market. At the start of the year, LMC Automotive was confidently predicting sales would bound ahead by a healthy 8.6%. Western Europe includes all the big markets of Germany, Britain, France, Spain and Italy.