BERLIN, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Global sales of electric vehicles (EVs) declined by 7 percent year-on-year in the first quarter (Q1) of 2020 to around 576,500, according to a study by PwC consulting firm Strategy& published on Friday.
While EV sales in the United States and China had declined, Europe's five largest markets, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain still saw an increase of EV sales by 58 percent to 313,000 in Q1 2020, according to the study.
Although the "European automotive industry was hit by the effects of COVID-19," registrations of electrified cars had continued to grow strongly in the first quarter of 2020 compared with the same quarter of last year, the study noted.
"The interest of European consumers in e-vehicles is undiminished," said Felix Kuhnert, global automotive leader at PwC. However, the automotive industry would require government incentives in order to "continue to reduce CO2 emissions despite the current impact of COVID-19 on production and supply chains."
By 2027, PwC Strategy& expects that with around 55.7 million new electric vehicles per year, every second new vehicle globally would be electrified. Enditem
