Rivals close in on Tesla in European EV market race
31 October 2024
Despite Tesla having a comfortable hold on the European electric vehicle (EV) market last year, continental brands are closing in. José Pontes, data director at EV Volumes, reviews the results with Autovista24 journalist Tom Hooker.
Tesla remained the best-selling brand in the European EV market at the end of August. It accounted for 10.9% of all plug-in registrations in Europe across the first eight months of the year. This was up 0.1 percentage points (pp) from July.
Despite this slight improvement, the carmaker is a long distance behind where it was at the same time last year. Between January and August 2023, the brand had a 12.3% market share. Tesla should take the 2024 title, but it will have a harder challenge retaining the top spot next year.
BMW was just 0.8pp behind, with a 10.1% share. In August 2023, Tesla’s nearest rival was Volkswagen (VW), which trailed the carmaker by 3.6pp.
The race for third
Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz took third in August. The brand captured 8.8% of the European EV market in the first eight months of the year, 1.3pp behind BMW. Volvo lost ground to the German carmaker in fourth. It dropped 0.1pp from July to 8.5%. The Volvo EX40, and its plug-in hybrid version of the XC40, dragged down the good results secured by the EX30.
Then came VW, which accounted for 6.7% of EV registrations. After a poor performance in the first half of the year, the marque appeared to be recovering. VW is 2pp behind its share from August 2023, when it sat in second. It is expected to finish the year outside the top three, which has not happened since 2019.
However, VW distanced itself from Audi, which lost 0.1pp market share in August to finish with 6.4%. The carmaker only has the Q4 e-Tron pulling volumes forward. Behind it came Kia with a 4.5% market hold, down 0.1pp from July. It closed the gap to Peugeot, with a 4.4% share.
VW Group’s stable lead
With brands gathered under manufacturing groups, VW Group kept a stable lead. The OEM captured a 20.4% share in the first eight months of 2024, stable on its result from last year. In the first eight months of 2024, it held a 9.4pp lead over its nearest competitor.
On the other hand, just 0.4pp separated second and fifth place. BMW Group edged past Stellantis for second, as both OEMs sat at an 11% share after gaining 0.1pp from July. BMW Group is depending on the success of the iX1 and i4. The recent i5 also provided extra volume so it could fight for second.
Despite sitting in fourth, Tesla is still the favourite to finish in the runner-up position by the end of the year. The carmaker took a 10.9% share between January and August, up 0.1pp. Geely-Volvo was stable in August, making up 10.6% of EV deliveries.
A little further behind was Mercedes-Benz Group in sixth, with a 9.1% share. It had a 1.2pp advantage over the Hyundai Motor Group, which captured 7.9% of the market.
