BYD Europe Managing Director Michael Shu presents the new BYD Seal U DM-i hybrid electric car during the Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, February 26, 2024. CYRIL ZINGARO/AP/SIPA It’s a silent revolution, but going well. The year 2024 will remain the year when the hybrid will have become the number one engine on the automobile market. In France, between the beginning of January and the end of November, its share in new car registrations jumped by 8.5 points, to 41.8%, while sales of strictly thermal vehicles continued to decline and did not represent more than 30.2%, according to data from the Automotive Platform. Not all European manufacturers anticipated this transfer movement in which most major Chinese brands see a boon. Aware that their electric range is no longer as popular, BYD or MG are now placing emphasis on hybrid models, spared by the customs sanctions imposed by Europe on vehicles imported from China. Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Europe confirms the surcharge on Chinese electric cars Read later Sales of these automobiles using a thermal engine and an electric one to consume less “have clearly increased under the effect of the tightening of the penalty, which now penalizes 87% of purchases of thermal vehicles, and this success presents significant room for improvement,” estimates Marie-Laure Nivot, responsible for analyzes at AAA Data. These models, which cost on average 8,300 euros more than a conventional thermal automobile, recalls AAA Data, and are very profitable for manufacturers, give a clear conscience. They present themselves as an acceptable compromise between yesterday’s cars, less environmentally friendly but considered more practical, and battery models, very efficient and inexpensive to use, but more expensive to purchase. You have 75.9% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
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