European car sales resume rise in July, BYD firmly ahead of Tesla
New car sales in Europe rose 5.9 per cent in July as a jump in Germany outweighed drops in Britain, France and Italy, European Automobile Manufacturers Association data showed on Thursday.
Tesla lost market share for a seventh consecutive month despite a rise in overall sales of electric cars, and trailed competitor BYD, which was included in the monthly sales data for the first time.
WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
Domestic carmakers such as Volkswagen are studying new launches to fend off Chinese competitors in Europe's growing EV market and comply in a profitable manner with regulations that encourage adoption of the vehicles.
ACEA CEO Ola Kaellenius co-signed on Wednesday a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saying that EU targets to cut CO2 emissions from vehicles, including a 100 per cent reduction for cars by 2035, are no longer feasible.
European automakers have booked multi-billion losses and issued profit warnings, with several also citing the impact of U.S. import tariffs.
BY THE NUMBERSÂ
Sales in the European Union, Britain and the European Free Trade Association rose to 1.09 million cars in July, ACEA data showed.Â
Registrations at Volkswagen and Renault rose 11.6 per cent and 8.8 per cent year-on-year, respectively, but fell 1.1 per cent at Stellantis.
Tesla's sales dropped 40.2 per cent, squeezing its market share to 0.8 per cent from 1.4 per cent a year ago. BYD's sales jumped 225.3 per cent to give it 1.2 per cent of the market.
Total EU car sales rose 7.4 per cent. Registrations of battery electric, hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid cars were up 39.1 per cent, 56.9 per cent and 14.3 per cent, respectively, to account collectively for 59.8 per cent of the bloc's registrations, up from 51.1 per cent in July 2024.
Overall sales in Germany rose 11.1 per cent, and fell 5 per cent in the UK, 7.7 per cent in France and 5.1 per cent in Italy. Spain, Poland and Austria recorded increases of 17.1 per cent, 16.5 per cent and 31.6 per cent, respectively.
