site.btaACM’s Alexander Kostadinov: Bulgaria Is One of Few European Countries Where Sales of New Cars Are Back to 2019 Level

Bulgaria is one of the few countries in Europe that have reached the new car sales levels of 2019, said in an interview with BTA Alexander Kostadinov, Chairman of the Board of the Association of car manufacturers and their authorized representatives for Bulgaria (ACM). He commented on the latest report on new car sales of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), according to which in 2023 among the EU countries the sales of new cars have increased most sharply in Bulgaria, where they have risen by 31.5% compared to 2022 to 37,724 units. Also here, sales of new plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) increased the most - by 151.8% to 355 units in 2023.

The second highest growth was in battery electric vehicles (BEVs), up by 119.3% to 1,816 units. Hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) sales were up 79.5% last year to 693 vehicles. New gasoline-powered vehicles increased their sales by 31.1% in 2023 to 28,800. Diesel car sales were up 13.2% to 6,032 units. In December 2023 alone, domestic new car sales jumped 55.5% to 3,123 units. This was the third biggest rise in car sales in the EU in December, the report added.

According to Kostadinov, there are several reasons for the recovery compared to 2019.

"Bulgaria still ranks last in new car sales and this is not only due to low purchasing power, but also to the state's policy of encouraging imports of old and polluting cars rather than new and environmentally friendly ones," he said.

Alexander Kostadinov's observations show that last year there was a slowdown in imports of used cars.

"This is due to greater interest and demand for new cars from customers. One of the reasons is that the prices of second-hand cars have risen enormously and in reality some of the used ones cost almost as much as a new car," he said.

However, the association hopes that Cabinet and Parliament will focus on how to stimulate new clean mobility at the expense of importing highly polluting and depreciated cars.

Last year, the share of new electric cars doubled to about 6% of the total market, Kostadinov said. However, this was a low percentage compared to most of Europe, where the average is already in the order of 15%.

He also pointed out that Bulgaria is well behind almost all other members of the European Union, which have a variety of incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles. The most popular one is a subsidy paid when buying a brand new electric car. In neighbouring Romania, he said, this subsidy is over EUR 9,000.

Alongside this, he said, many other incentives could be thought of, such as support for the development of charging infrastructure and reducing the import of highly polluting cars.