Electric car sales in Europe in January rose by 29 per cent compared to the previous year, reaching 120,536 units, while their market share, at 12 per cent, was the lowest recorded for this type of motorization since the ten per cent marked in January 2023, according to data from the consulting firm Jato Dynamics.
Specifically, the total volume of the 28 European markets analyzed by the consulting firm in January increased by 11 per cent, to 1.01 million units driven by the increasing demand for electric cars and plug-in hybrids.
Furthermore, Jato has highlighted that over half of the market consisted of the sale of SUV models (Sports Utility Vehicles), with 543,000 SUVs registered and accounting for 52.8 per cent of sales, representing an increase of 1.2 percentage points compared to the same month in 2023.
Jato Dynamics’ global analyst, Felipe Muñoz, says that SUVs were the best-selling cars in 14 out of the 19 automotive groups they analyzed.
“It’s clear that SUVs aren’t losing their appeal for European customers, despite being subject to new campaigns and regulations in certain countries,” he states.
Specifically, SUV sales represented 97 per cent of Jaguar Land Rover’s volume, 92 per cent of Nissan, 86 per cent of Geely (including Volvo and Polestar), and 79 per cent of Chinese brands (excluding Geely and SAIC groups).
In contrast, they were less popular for Mitsubishi and Renault Group, accounting for 31 per cent and 34 per cent of volume, respectively.
The Volkswagen Group dominated 23 per cent of the SUV segment, although its volume decreased by four per cent, while Stellantis was the second-largest SUV seller of the month, with a 25 per cent growth, driven by strong registrations for the Peugeot 2008, the Opel/Vauxhall Mokka, and the Jeep Avenger.
In this regard, the ten most registered SUVs during the month were: Toyota Yaris Cross, Peugeot 2008, Volkswagen T-Roc, Kia Sportage, Ford Puma, Dacia Duster, Hyundai Tucson, Nissan Qashqai, Tesla Model Y, and Volkswagen Tiguan.
Dacia Sandero: The best-selling model
The Dacia Sandero, with 25,038 units, was the best-selling model in Europe in the first month of the year, a 20 per cent increase compared to January 2023, followed by the Volkswagen Golf, with 18,563 units (+62 per cent), and the Toyota Yaris Cross, which closed the podium with 17,320 units, an eight per cent increase.
The list was completed by the Skoda Octavia, in fourth position, with 16,510 units (+74 per cent), followed by the Peugeot 208 (16,486 units; +24 per cent), the Citroën C3 (15,120 units; +51 per cent), the Peugeot 2008 (15,117 units; +29 per cent), the Volkswagen T-Roc (14,739 units; -17 per cent), the Kia Sportage (14,158; +40 per cent), and the Renault Clio, which closed the “top 10” with 13,846 units (-1 per cent).
In terms of brands, Volkswagen dominated the European market in the first month of the year with 96,235 units (-4 per cent), ahead of Toyota and BMW, with 77,737 units (+8 per cent) and 60,299 units (+33 per cent), respectively.
The top 10 best-selling brands were completed by Skoda (60,240 units; +18 per cent), Peugeot (57,264 units; +23 per cent), Audi (53,075 units; +11 per cent), Dacia (51,103 units; +8 per cent), Mercedes (50,229 units; -1 per cent), Kia (43,054 units, +9 per cent), and Hyundai (41,293 units; +6 per cent).
