Soaring demand in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America helped the LCV and car market rise 2.4% in 2017.

Light vehicle sales were up by 2.4% in 2017 due to soaring demand in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

New figures from JATO Dynamics show a total of 86.05 million light vehicles were registered in 2017, up by 2.05 million on 2016.

SUVs contributed significantly to the automotive industry’s strong performance, accounting for the largest market share in China, North America and Europe – the three largest regions – but were not as popular in the three smallest regions: Asia-Pacific, Japan and South Korea and Latin America. The subcompact was the most popular segment in Asia-Pacific and Latin America, whilst city cars secured the largest market share in Japan.

Europe, Asia-Pacific (excluding China, Japan and South Korea) and Latin America were the key drivers of growth in 2017. Double-digit increases in 13 markets, including Russia, Thailand and Argentina, offset declines in significant markets such as the US, UK, Mexico and South Korea, and slowing growth in China. The Asia-Pacific market (excluding China, Japan and South Korea), was bolstered by increased sales in India, Thailand, New Zealand and Singapore, whilst the Latin American region benefited from the improved economic situation in Brazil.

Brazil contributed significantly to the industry’s growth, posting a 9.4% volume increase in sales. India continued its rapid growth trajectory, with the country posting an increase of 8.8% meaning it could soon overtake Germany, which grew by a modest 2.8%. As a result, India could soon leapfrog Germany to take the position of the fourth largest automotive market.

In terms of fuel types, estimated data shows that petrol cars and LCVs continued to dominate the market in 2017, with 72.5% market share. AFVs showed strong growth, with a 27.7% increase which took its volume to 3.79 million units, and meant it had a market share of 4.4%, an increase of 0.9 percentage points when compared to 2016. Diesel registrations declined by 3.7%, due to the fuel type’s strong dependence on the European region which accounted for two in three diesel cars sold in 2017, despite regulation on a national level aiming to reduce reliance on diesel vehicles. Outside of Europe, Thailand, New Zealand and South Korea all remain strong markets for diesels.

Japan is one of the largest and most significant markets for AFVs. However, Norway maintained its leading market share, accounting for 41.9% of AFVs sold, followed by Japan at 27.8% and Israel at 9.5%. Pure electric car and LCV sales totalled 668,000 units, an increase of 78.4%. Hybrids totalled 2.51 million units, a record, partly achieved due to strong growth in China, India and Europe. Plug-ins totalled 417,300 units, an increase of 62.5%, driven by China, USA and Japan.