9:24 am, February 28, 2025
Registrations of Chinese cars soared in Europe last month while demand for Teslas nosedived by 45%, latest data shows.
New figures from JATO Dynamics reveals that 993,068 cars were registered in January – a 1.9% fall compared to the same month last year, thanks to reduced incentives.
Petrol and diesel cars recorded a 10% fall while plug-in hybrids dropped by 6%; 166,000 pure electric cars rolled out of dealerships – a 38% year-on-year rise.
Felipe Munoz, global analyst at JATO Dynamics, said: ‘The market saw significant year-on-year growth in December 2024, largely due to the implementation of incentives and last-minute deals towards the end of the year.
‘The removal of these has contributed to the decline in the number of passenger car registrations.’
The boom in electric cars had little effect on Tesla, though, with the brand experiencing a massive 45% slump in registrations.
Only 9,913 Teslas found new homes in January, with JATO putting the fall down to the changeover from pre-facelift to the updated Model Y, along with Elon Musk’s ‘increased involvement in mainstream politics’.
Munoz commented: ‘The solid performance of BEVs is particularly impressive given the significant dip in sales that Tesla
experienced in January.
‘It’s not unusual for sales to drop just before a new generation or an updated model is introduced to the market, as the brand reduces the production of the existing model in anticipation of the new release.
‘This is likely to be what Tesla is experiencing before it rolls out the refreshed version of the Model Y, after which it can expect to see sales pick up again.’
But Munoz did reference how Tesla Model 3 sales were down 44% in January, with this performance and that of the Model Y’s being an ‘indication of the declining popularity of Tesla in Europe overall’.
Chinese brands gained traction last month with a 52% rise in registrations, and a market share increase from 2.4% in January 2024 to 3.7% one year on.
The data shows that if all Chinese brands’ volumes were combined, it would place them in 12th in manufacturer rankings for January, ahead of firms such as Ford.
The Blue Oval registered 35,790 cars, compared to a combined Chinese total of 37,134.
Meanwhile, the Dacia Sandero was the best-selling car in January with 21,309 units, followed by the Volkswagen Golf (17,630) and the Peugeot 208 (17,289).
The Volvo XC60 led the plug-in hybrid chart, while the Volkswagen ID.4 took top place in the pure-electric table.
JATO will be appearing at Car Dealer Live in two weeks’ time.
The firm’s Paul Hilton and its Chinese country manager Bo Yu will be delving into which Chinese brands UK dealers need to be aware of – and which carmakers will be the biggest casualties from their arrival.
You can read more about what JATO will be speaking about by clicking here.
Car Dealer Live – sponsored by Auto Trader – takes place on March 13 at the British Motor Museum, in Gaydon. Tickets are selling out fast for car dealers and suppliers and are available on the event website.
