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War and fuel crisis affect cars, registrations fall in April, even electric ones

2026-05-07 07:23:21, Sociale CNA

After reaching a historic record in January-March, vehicle registrations for the first time have decreased in April, according to data made public by the General Directorate of Road Transport Services (DPSHTRR).

During April, 8,707 vehicles were registered in the country, with a slight contraction of 2% compared to the same period a year earlier.

For the period January-April, a total of 30.8 thousand vehicles were added to the country's roads, or 5.2% more than the same period, influenced by the good performance in the first three months of the year, with an expansion of 8.4%.

Market players claim that the April slowdown is related to several factors, the most important of which is related to the situation created in the Strait of Hormuz, which has slowed down and increased the cost of vehicle transportation. In recent years, most of the cars in Albania are being imported from South Korea and recently from China. For the first 4 months, 13 thousand vehicles, or 42% of the total, came from these countries. (7,414 from South Korea and 5,632 from China).

Vehicles imported from South Korea and China used to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, but now, due to the conflict in the Middle East, they follow other routes, which has increased transportation costs and consequently prices by up to 30%, curbing both demand and the time it takes for a vehicle to reach Albania.

The change in transportation routes has also had an impact on the uptake of electric cars. While in March 1,252 electric cars were registered for the first time, a historic record, in April registrations fell to 1,191, although interest in purchasing them has increased, following the sharp increase in fuel prices, with diesel exceeding 200 lek per liter and above all being among the most expensive in Europe (due to the high tax burden, which accounts for almost half of the price).

However, diesel cars continue to be the favorites for Albanian vehicle users, with 53% of first-time registrations for January-March using this type of fuel, or 16.3 thousand vehicles.

In the first four months, around 4.1 thousand all-electric vehicles were registered, or 13.5% of the total. Of these, 2830 are from the Chinese brand BYD, followed by VOLKSWAGEN, with 221. Other Chinese electric brands have also started to enter the country, such as FANG CHENG BAO, with 100 registrations for the first time, and WULING, with 96.

The total number of vehicles circulating in the country is constantly increasing, reaching almost 1.08 million at the end of April, of which 80.7% were cars. MERCEDES BENZ continues to hold the lead, with 17.9% of the total, followed by VOLKSWAGEN, with 16.7%, FORD (7.3%), DAIMLER CHRYSLER (7.2%), AUDI (6.3%), TOYOTA (4.2%), OPEL (3.5%), FIAT (3.3%). The weight of other brands is lower than 3%.

Chinese brand BYD is growing rapidly, with 5,524 of them on sale by the end of April, or 0.5% of the total. More than half of them (51%) were registered in the first four months of this year alone. /Monitor.al