​Ten years ago, diesel cars were extremely popular, with a market share exceeding 50% in many European countries, and it looked like the numbers would continue to rise. It was not destined: the Dieselgate scandal was followed by numerous bans, and diesel disappeared from the range of some brands. In the article, read about the path of rapid decline of diesel cars.

There are almost 250 million cars in the EU, of which 100 million are diesel. There are 29 million light commercial vehicles, over 6 million medium and heavy vehicles and 700,000 buses in the Union. Over 92% of vans and buses are diesel.

In Romania, the share of diesel in the car fleet is 44%, in Greece – less than 9%, and in Lithuania – 69%. Among the major markets, diesel cars have a share of over 57% in France and Spain and 31% in Germany.

In light commercial vehicles, diesel occupies 91% of the market, and in medium and heavy vehicles, over 96%, if we talk about the entire Union. More than 93% of buses in the EU are diesel, in Romania this share is 99%.

It was a tough year for diesel cars, and not only did the market share fall, but diesel ended up exceeding 9 lei, so that it now costs around 8.4 lei. 8 years ago, diesel was “in fashion”, but now it is on its way to complete disappearance when it comes to passenger cars.

The share of diesel on the European market of new cars over the past 21 years

2001: 33%

2005: 44%

2009: 41%

2011: 47%

2015: 48%

2016: 46%

2017: 41%

2018: 34%

2019: 30%

2020: 26%

2021: 20%

2022: 17.3% after six months

2025: estimate: below 10%

2030: about 1%

For the first half of 2022, for diesel cars registered in the EU, the decrease was 31%, from 1.15 million to 803,000, data for the period January-June 2022. The French market decreased by 39%, the Belgian market by 41%, and the Italian market by 35%. Romania saw a decrease of 22%, Cyprus – 62%, and Denmark – 56%.

Europe’s top 5 largest markets for new diesel cars in the first half of 2022 – number of registrations

Germany 246,000 pcs

Italy 137,000 pcs

France 129,000 pcs

Spain 71,000 pcs

Great Britain 46,000 pcs

Number of new diesel cars registered in Europe over the last 21 years

2001: 5.61 million

2004: 7.5 million

2007: 8.67 million

2009: 6.81 million

2011: 7.99 million

2015: 7.85 million

2018: 6.03 million

2020: 3.67 million

2021: 2.81 million

2025: Estimated at 1.74 million

Number of new diesel cars registered in Romania

2021: 19,206

2020: 33,834

2019: 43,363

2018: 53,228

2017: 53,755

In the first half of 2022, the total number of new diesel cars registered in Romania decreased by 22% to less than 8,000 units.

After two decades of selling millions of diesel cars a year, it’s no surprise that 42% of the EU fleet is made up of diesel cars.

​7-8 years ago, it seemed that nothing could stop the growth of diesel cars, and in a number of European countries they accounted for more than 60% of the car fleet. Things are very different now: more and more brands are no longer producing diesel versions, some cities are no longer allowing these cars in the city center, and some important officials have said that diesel is “dying”.

In Romania, diesel accounted for 56.5% of the new car market in 2014 and 53.5% in 2015, falling to 26-27% in 2019 and 2020. At the end of 2021, diesel accounted for 19% of the new car market . In the first three months of 2022, the share fell to 15%, and according to estimates, we are headed for 10%.

Six months later, the share fell to 14.5%, in June it was only 12.1%, according to APIA data. The highest monthly share was in February: 16.9%.

Romanians sell a lot of diesel cars online: on Autovit.ro, for example, 68% of the cars in the ads are diesel, but the number of ads has decreased.

Which brands sold the best diesel cars? In 2022, the top 5 will be Dacia, Skoda, Volkswagen, Peugeot and BMW, according to APIA data. Other brands still achieving diesel sales include Audi, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Renault and Volvo.

Compared to last year, sales of new diesel cars of BMW, Ford and Mercedes-Benz brands fell the most in the country. There was also a brand on the rise: Peugeot.

European countries with more than 60% diesel cars in their fleet: Lithuania and Latvia

European countries with more than 50% diesel cars in their fleet: France, Austria, Croatia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain

European countries with the smallest share of diesel in cars: Greece, Holland, Finland.

Number of new diesel cars registered in the EU 2018-2021

2018: 5.4 million

2019: 4.65 million

2020: 2.77 million

2021: 1.9 million

Diesel pressed in Europe at all levels after 2015

Long gone are the days when diesel was considered a “clean fuel”, and in-depth research has shown that despite lower CO2 emissions, lower fuel consumption and high torque, these cars emit large amounts of other pollutants, such as nitrogen oxide, which can cause serious breathing problems.

A study conducted several years ago by the World Health Organization classified diesel emissions as carcinogenic. Other studies have shown that the nitrogen oxide emissions of small diesel cars are several times higher than those of buses or trucks.

Environmental groups accuse car companies of not investing enough in technology to reduce diesel emissions. Some more radical voices have categorized car companies as arrogant.

On the other hand, car manufacturers have argued for years that diesel cars are being unfairly “demonized” even though they’ve never been greener. These companies are angry because for 15 years they were encouraged to invest in diesel and since 2015 they have been constantly told that they have to change everything.

In this context, there are voices that argue that there is a lot of attention on electric cars and that they are too “pushed down the throats of consumers”, although they are still expensive, autonomy is still low and the way they are produced is low. not very ecological. In most European countries, all-electric cars are sold with subsidies of several thousand euros, because otherwise they would be extremely expensive.

The Volkswagen scandal in 2015 put diesel in an even worse light and led to urgent measures against these cars in some countries. There are more and more restrictions for diesel owners (for example, they no longer have access to the center of some cities if they have old diesel cars).

France, Great Britain, Holland and Norway are the European countries with the most radical plans to “clean” the streets of diesel. Between 2030 and 2040, ONLY electric cars will be able to be registered in several European countries, which will significantly change the landscape of the automotive market.

Dozens of new models do NOT have diesel options anymore.

For example, in the UK, the total number of diesel options across all brands has halved in five years, with the largest percentage declines for the Renault and Mini brands.

Also in Great Britain, the number of new diesel cars sold in 2022 has halved compared to 2021, the data refer to the first half of the year. In France, more than 80 thousand diesel cars were registered less than in 2021, and in Germany the minus is 68 thousand.

In 2015, more than half of Fiat 500L cars sold in the German market were diesel, while in 2019 the share fell below 8%, and if in 2015 more than a third of Audi A1 cars sold were diesel, now this share is zero.

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