E-bus registrations grew 10% in Q1 2024 in European Union (while diesel bus’ share increased 8%)

Bus registrations in European Union grew 10% in the first quarter of 2024, compared to the first three months of last year, as recorded by ACEA, the association of European manufacturers. However, their share slightly decreased to 12.3% of the total bus market (from 13.7% in Q1 2023).

The first quarter of 2024 saw mixed results for the commercial vehicle market in the EU: while sales of vans increased by 12.6 per cent, those of trucks declined slightly (-4 per cent), despite the growth in the market for electrically powered trucks.

Electric bus market share hasn’t been growing

Bus sales had a positive start to the year, with new EU registrations surging by 23.3% compared to the first quarter of 2023, totalling 9,624 units. While sales dropped by 16.8% in France, three major markets grew substantially: Germany (+20%), Italy (+18.3%), and Spain (+7.6%), ACEA says.

Let’s now focus on zero emission buses (that in ACEA’s definition falls within the name of ‘electrically chargeable buses’). In this segment registrations “rose by 10.3% in the first quarter of 2024. However, the market share decreased slightly from last year’s 13.7% to 12.3%. Germany, the largest market by volume, grew by 20.7%. Romania’s market increased by a sizeable 149.2%, making it the second-largest market for electrically chargeable buses. France, previously the largest market, saw its electrically chargeable bus sales more than halve with a 66.4% decrease. Meanwhile, hybrid-electric bus sales experienced a marginal decline of 1.9%, and now make up 10.9% of the market. Diesel bus registrations grew by a robust 38.8% and now represent a 70.7% market share, an increase from the previous year’s 62.8%“.