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European demand for BEVs slowed in H1 as Tesla and Volkswagen lost ground to BMW and Chinese OEMs.
JATO Dynamics’ data for 28 European countries revealed that new passenger car registrations increased by just 4.4% between January and June 2024, compared to the same period last year, with volume increasing from 6,559,213 units in H1 2023, to 6,847,842 units in H1 2024.
Registrations of Chinese EVs surged 26% to 70,000 across Europe in the first half of 2024 with their market share for BEVs up from 5.97% to 7.37% over the same period.
Geely Group – the owner of Volvo, Polestar and Lotus – increased its BEV registrations by 52%, compared to H1 2023, outselling Hyundai-Kia, Mercedes, and Renault Group.
BYD registered 17,000 electric cars – 14,000 more compared to H1 2023. According to Jato BYD’s rapid growth allowed it to outsell Nissan, Smart, Toyota, Polestar, Citroen, Dacia, Ford, Mini, Porsche, and Mazda.
It said BYD is now Europe’s 16th best-selling BEV brand – the second Chinese brand following MG, which held 8 th place in the BEV ranking.
Xpeng registered 2,214 electric cars compared to 51 in H1 2023.
Great Wall Motors doubled its volume to 2,123 units; ZEEKR secured 821 units compared to 0 in H1 2023; Hongqi increased its units to 366 units marking a 266% uplift; while Voyah secured 225 units, compared to 8 units in H1 2022
Felipe Munoz, Global Analyst at JATO Dynamics, noted: “Measures taken by the European Union to impose tariffs on BEV imports from China, target models that accounted for 17% of BEV registrations in Europe during H1 2024, excluding potential units imported by Tesla.”
“It’s clear that China has significantly helped to drive growth in the market. Without these competitive prices coming from China, consumers will face higher prices, meaning we could see demand fall over the next few months.”