The collapse

Electric cars, sales plummet in Europe: -36%.

According to statistics from the Jato Dynamics Institute, sales of battery-powered cars have dropped dramatically. Tesla is back in first place but losing ground to Chinese models. The Dacia Sandero still leads the ranking of best-selling models.

19 September 2024

2' min read

A thud: figures for August compiled by Jato Dynamics indicate an unprecedented collapse of electric cars. The drop in demand for new electric cars has had a decidedly significant impact on the overall market.

In August, in fact, a total of 125,070 units of electric cars were registered, or a minus 36 per cent. This is the most significant drop for electrics since back in January 2017, when the first registrations of these types of cars were registered. There are many factors contributing to this: lack of clarity on incentives, high car prices and above all concerns about the low residual value of electric vehicles.

Decline in electric cars market share

Due to this significant contraction, the market share of electric models dropped from 21.8% in August 2023 to 16.6% last month. However, the segment recorded its highest monthly market share and exceeded both August 2022 and August 2021 market shares by 3.6 points and 4.6 points respectively.

Decline in electric cars by brand

The brands that suffered most from the drop in electric sales were the Renault group (- 64%), Saic (- 65%), Stellantis (- 52%), Hyundai-Kia (- 15%) and Tesla (- 44%). As for the results by brand, Volkswagen had a drop of 46% and was overtaken by Bmw. Other declines included Smart (- 68%), MG (- 65%), Opel (- 63%), Citroën (- 63%), Fiat (- 55%), Hyundai (- 53%), Kia (- 50%) and Polestar (- 47%).

Increasing market share of Chinese brands

The BMW group recorded a 5% drop, while registrations of the Geely and Byd groups increased by 52% and 18%. In contrast, the market share of Chinese manufacturers, including Volvo, Polestar and Geely-owned Lotus, for electric car sales increased from 10.5% in August 2023 to 15.5% last month. The strong demand for Chinese-made cars was largely due to the success of the Volvo EX30 and some Byd models. The market share of Chinese car manufacturers is larger than Tesla's 15.3%, surpassed only by the Volkswagen Group with 22.5%.

The Dacia Sandero leading the overall classic

The Dacia Sandero took the top spot in the overall model ranking (with each powertrain) in August, registering 15,653 units, an increase of 9%, bringing its total volume since the beginning of this year to almost 183,000 units. The Tesla Model Y follows with 13,410 units, but down 38%. In third position is the Toyota Yaris Cross, which recorded a 24% increase in sales. Other well-performing models include the Dacia Duster (+10%), VW Polo (+26%), BMW X1 (+11%), Skoda Fabia (+21%), Toyota C-HR (+24%), Skoda Karoq (+25%), Opel Astra (+40%), Peugeot 3008 (+22%) and Seat Ibiza (+74%).

The latest model results

Among the latest models introduced to the market, the Volvo EX30 became the second best-selling electric car in the Old Continent in August and the third best-selling model in 2024. MG registered 3,151 units of the MG 3. In addition, Volkswagen registered 2,803 units of the ID.7, the Renault Scenic sold 2,193 units, the Fiat 600 registered 2,047 units, the BMW i5 sold 748 units, the Lexus LBX had a total of 1,634 units sold, and the Ford Explorer EV sold 1,424 units.