China has become the sixth largest country of origin for new vehicles registered in Europe, according to the latest data from JATO Dynamics.
It means China has now overtaken Japan for the number of vehicles registered in Europe.
Felipe Munoz, global analyst at JATO Dynamics, said: “China’s influence in Europe – both from Chinese OEMs and Chinese-made vehicles – is growing steadily.
“Their products are highly competitive, but it remains to be seen just how much the introduction of tariffs will impact its growth.”
SAIC Motor, Geely, BYD, Chery, and BMW Group were the top best-selling companies of Chinese assembly origin cars in Europe last year.
Europe’s new passenger car market grew by 0.9% last year to 12,909,741 units.
Despite the slight uptick in registrations, 2024 was the fifth year of muted registrations figures when compared to prepandemic levels. Europe’s car market has shrunk by almost 2.9 million units since the arrival of the pandemic in 2020.
Munoz said: “Overall, when you consider the range of challenges facing Europe’s automotive industry, the results for 2024 are not overly negative.
“However, you would expect any other industry to have shown significant signs of recovery by now, and there is very little evidence that the automotive industry will return to the pre-pandemic reality.
“The higher cost of vehicles, the rise of working from home, inflationary pressure on wages and the emergence of new transportation solutions are among the reasons why Europeans have stopped buying brand new cars.”
Fewer electric cars, more hybrids
Last year was not a positive year for sales of EVs in Europe, with the slowdown in growth that the industry began to see signs of in 2022 resulting in a drop in sales last year.
Sales grew by 107% year on year between 2019 and 2020, up by 63% between 2020 and 2021, up by 29% between 2021 and 2022 and then 28% between 2022 and 2023.
However, 1,985,996 units of new passenger EVs were registered in EU28 in 2024, marking a year-on-year decline of 1.2%.
The drop in registrations was also reflected in the market share of BEVs in Europe, which decreased slightly from 15.7% in 2023 to 15.4% last year.
A lack of clarity about incentives for BEVs, the high average retail price of new models and low residual values – as well as concerns about charging infrastructure across the continent – are among the reasons behind the decline.
Despite the drop recorded last year, the situation is expected to improve over 2025 as the average price of a BEV continues to fall in Europe, largely due to the introduction of less expensive models from mainstream automakers.
From a manufacturer perspective, the BEV market did not change significantly in 2024. The Volkswagen Group remained the top-seller, with more than 427,000 units of its electric models registered in 2024. Its share of the BEV market fell slightly from 22.2% in 2023 to 21.5% last year and remains below its share of the wider new passenger vehicle market, which stood at 26.1% in 2024.
Tesla followed in second position, despite increased competition from other players and its Model 3 being unable to offset significant losses while consumers waited for the arrival of the new Model Y.
In third place came Stellantis, which remained in the top three producers of BEVs despite posting a 10% drop in volumes.
Elsewhere, BEVs made up a greater part of the sales mix for BMW Group and Geely last year.
Hybrid vehicles: a halfway house?
Although not all carmakers offer fully hybrid models, the segment recorded year-on-year growth of 21% between 2023 and 2024, and all carmakers that offered fully hybrid vehicles posted growth last year.
Out of a total market of 1,529,806 units registered in 2024, Toyota accounted for 738,500 units.
Almost one in two hybrid vehicles registered in Europe in 2024 had a Toyota or Lexus logo, and 75% of registrations of Toyota passenger cars were hybrid vehicles. Renault Group followed with almost 300,000 units, up 49% year on year, while Hyundai-Kia, Nissan and Honda accounted for the rest of the top five.
Volkswagen Group, Stellantis, BMW Group, Mercedes-Benz and Geely were a few of the manufacturers absent from this segment.
Hybrids have become increasingly popular due to the comparatively high average retail price of BEVs and concerns about charging infrastructure.
According to a recent JATO study, the average retail price of a hybrid available in the Eurozone in 2024 was €42,222 (£35,320), compared to €62,709 (£52,459) for a BEV.