PARIS: European car sales rose strongly in September, boosted by electric and hybrid models, constructors' association ACEA said Thursday.
About 971,048 new cars were sold in the European Union last month, up 9.3% from the same month a year earlier, bringing the total in the first nine months of the year to 8.5 million.
With an increase of 5.7% in the first nine months, the "new EU passenger car market showed notable resilience... despite a challenging macroeconomic environment marked by persistently rising energy prices and geopolitical headwinds", ACEA said in a statement.
Sales of non-rechargeable hybrid cars rose 10.7% in the first nine months, and they now account for 36.3% of new car sales.
Electric car sales jumped 48.5% in the period and now account for 22.7% of the market.
The market share of cars powered solely by petrol fell to 21.2% from 27.7% a year ago.