New car sales growth driven by EVs and Chinese VMs
Electric vehicles and Chinese brands drove new car sales growth of five per cent in Europe in August.
Data from JATO Dynamics revealed that there were 790,177 new car sales last month, with the increase attributed largely to the growing uptake of electric cars and greater popularity of the main Chinese brands.
It found that electric vehicle registrations increased by 27% compared with August 2024, taking their share of the market to a new record of 20.2%, while 1.54 million electric vehicles have been sold year-to-date in Europe.
Meanwhile, plug-in hybrid registrations climbed 59% year-on-year to 83,900 units, taking a 10.6% share.
Strong demand
Felipe Munoz, global analyst at JATO Dynamics, said: “The data shows that there was strong demand for BEVs in August, however a 27% increase is less significant than it looks when you consider how widely they are being promoted across Europe.
“The new record market share for BEVs achieved last month has been partly distorted by the fact that Italy, typically a less enthusiastic adopter of BEVs, is usually quiet during August.”
Chinese popularity
The data also revealed increased demand for Chinese brands, with sales increasing by 121% to over 43,500 units. There are now more than 40 Chinese manufacturers selling into the European market, but the top five players – MG, BYD, Jaecoo, Omoda, and Leapmotor – accounted for 84% of all sales.
Munoz concluded:
“European consumers are responding positively to the growing, competitive line-up from China’s car brands. It appears that these brands have successfully tackled the perception and awareness issues they have experienced.”
