Sales: Light at the end of the tunnel
FINALLY With a year-on-year increase of 6.6 percent, the Swiss car market recovered in September. For the first time since February and the war in Ukraine, a plus is registered again.
In the past calendar month, a total of 20,947 new passenger cars were put on the roads in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein - up from 19,648 a year ago.
Auto-Schweiz Director Andreas Burgener: "The supply situation for supplier products such as cable harnesses, which has been difficult since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, has now stabilized, so that more vehicles can be produced and delivered again."
However, the situation is still characterized by great uncertainty, especially with regard to the availability of microchips and other electronic components. Nevertheless, the Swiss automotive market was able to reduce its cumulative year-on-year shortfall from 13 to 9.7 percent in just two months. Finally, some light at the end of the tunnel.
Alternative drives at just under 50 percent
The distribution of engine types has stabilized after three quarters. Since the beginning of the year, electric, hybrid, gas and hydrogen drives have accounted for almost half of the market, with 80,292 new registrations or 49.4 percent. Compared with the previous year's figure of 41.8 percent, this represents noticeable growth.
The main gains in market share during this period were achieved by full and mild hybrid drive systems and purely electric vehicles. Plug-in hybrids are slightly behind their prior-year figure and have a market share of 8.4 percent. The growing alternative share is mainly at the expense of gasoline-only vehicles, while diesel hardly lost any market share compared with the previous year and actually gained market share in September.
Success through amendment of the Energy Act
National Councillor Albert Rösti, President of Auto-Switzerland: "The amendment to the Energy Act will enable the rapid construction of large-scale photovoltaic plants in the Alps, which can also supply large amounts of electricity in winter. In addition, with the increase in the Grimsel dam included in the law, the capacity of the power plant can be increased by 75 percent. This is a way to further improve security of supply."
