(Reuters) – Sales of new cars in the European Union (EU) rose 0.2% in July, slowed by declines in France and Germany, as battery-electric vehicles continued to lose market share, data from the EU’s auto industry body showed.

Sales of battery-electric vehicles in Germany fell by almost 37% as improvements in the Belgian, Dutch and French markets were not enough to offset the decline, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).

Sales of electrified cars – electric, plug-in hybrid or full hybrid – in the EU accounted for 50.9% of all new passenger car registrations in July, up from 47% the previous year.

However, sales of battery electric cars and plug-in cars fell by 10.8% and 14.1% respectively, while those of hybrid electric cars jumped by 25.7%.

Registrations at Europe’s three largest carmakers Volkswagen, Stellantis and Renault fell in July from a year earlier by 2.2%, 5.2% and 1.7% respectively, due to growing competition from China.

Sales at electric vehicle maker Tesla fell 14.7%, while those at Chinese automaker SAIC Motor rose 24.2%.

On August 20, the European Commission reduced its planned tariffs on imports of Chinese-built Tesla cars to 9%, while broadly maintaining its plans for tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, which could go as high as 36.3%.

Stellantis, which posted the biggest sales decline among EU carmakers, reported a bigger-than-expected fall in revenue and operating profit for the first half, also due to internal operational problems.

Sales of hybrid electric cars – a compromise between all-fuel and all-electric – have increased in the EU in recent months.

(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi and Greta Rosen Fondahn; with contributions from Kirsten Donovan and Christopher Cushing; by Mara Vîlcu, edited by Augustin Turpin)

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