As the Autofestival approaches (27 January to 5 February), the record registrations of new cars last year indicates that the automobile market is doing well.

However, more than half of total new registrations were used cars (72,000 against 64,000, according to the final figures from the SNCT), so there was a similar progression in both markets.

According to RTL Journal on Tuesday 16 January, the Autofestival will take place in 170 showrooms, presenting 56 brands and over 30 new models. It usually generates around a third of total sales. SUVs and estate cars are very popular, but saloons, coupés and convertibles are not doing that well, RTL said.

Electric and hybrid cars hype

Electric car sales have increased by 166.2%, representing 386 cars sold. A total of 1,550 hybrid cars were registered in 2017, an increase of 94.5%.

Philippe Mersch, the head of Fegarlux, the car garage federation, dampened expectations however. In an RTL interview that the prices were still a bit too high at the moment, and the offer was not yet developed enough. Autonomy was also still a problem, and it was also a question of how the prices of alternative fuels would evolve.