Behind the wheel newsletter

From the marketing desk

Welcome to our fresh new look newsletter for June. We’ve made a few changes to how we deliver it to allow you to get the most out of the industry news and get to know what we do and how we do it better.

So, what has happened at JATO in June? Well maybe that should be, ‘what hasn’t’? It’s been a busy month. We won the ‘Highly Commended’ prize in the ‘Data Insight of the Year’ category at the Car Dealer Power Awards. And, together with Oliver Wyman, created and launched the automotive pricing study that talks about the current auto affordability crisis in the German OEM industry and delves deeper into the issue and the cause.

On the product side, the big news has been the launch of the new JATO Transaction Analysis solution. In short, it provides automotive manufacturers with in-depth analysis of transaction data so that they can make strategic decisions based on what consumers are willing to pay, not just what’s advertised. More news on that in the July newsletter.

There’s so much more to tell you about, so, in closing, if you’d like to get ahead and stay ahead in your motor industry sector, read on.

Yours in motoring,

Matt Carter-Johnson
Head of Marketing

JATO in the news

They say that one of the greatest accolades that you can get is if you are either recognised by your peers or, better still, in the press. You might have seen that we don’t do things in half measures and when JATO hits the headlines, it’s across some of the most globally recognised media companies.

We were featured on CNN and in the New York Times for our press release around BYD now outselling Tesla in Europe, mentioned in The Economist regarding our data that pointed to the reasons for the large influx of Chinese cars into emerging markets, and finally, we were also interviewed by DW Español regarding Tesla’s eroding market share in Europe. And, in breaking news, we have been featured on the BBC news site in an article penned by prominent BBC journalist, Faisal Islam.

Watch this space for more news stories about us in the next newsletter.

Deep dive data

When it comes to whitepapers, reports, and eBooks, the devil is truly in the details. So, if you’re looking to get your hands on that all important data that matters most to you, you’ve come to the right place. This month we’ve been busy putting together the ‘Understanding the automotive trade imbalance between the US and Europe’ whitepaper, designed to keep you up to speed and ensure you remain further down the road than others. Hot off the press is the new eBook ‘Steering towards long-term success: opportunities in the global automotive leasing industry’. It explores the key challenges and opportunities reshaping the global automotive leasing industry.

OEM news

It was a busy month on the automotive side. We launched the final module in our data visualisation tool – Monthly Payments Analytics – enabling customers to visualise both captive and non-captive data. Never ones to rest on our laurels, the team has been busy this month putting plans in motion to launch the new Transaction Analysis Navigator. Watch this space for more info on that initiative.

We also created a blog around the DCA motor finance scandal and how major UK lenders have set aside over £1 billion in provisions to compensate customers who were overcharged through Discretionary Commission Arrangements through higher dealer commissions before being banned in 2021.

Insurance news

Like other verticals at JATO, we never sit still and are always looking to create blogs, white papers and webinars. On that score we have an upcoming webinar. Registrations will be opening soon, so look out for that announcement on the ‘Webinars and Podcasts’ section of our site. All of our content is designed to keep you informed of market trends so you can be proactive rather than reactive.

We’ve also created an amazing whitepaper entitled, ‘Banking on sustainability: the smart route to more efficient carbon emissions reporting’. The clue is in the name as to what it is about, so keep an eye out for it under ‘Reports and Whitepapers’ in the resources section of JATO.com.

Retail news

June marked a pivotal month for the Retail team as we advanced several strategic initiatives designed to enhance customer experience, expand product capabilities, and strengthen our market position.

Firstly, we launched our New API suite, unlocking access to our global databases through a single, borderless API. We've now released this API in our developer portal and encourage existing customers to speak to their account manager or support team to get access and test API access for their existing markets and explore new territories.

In addition, following the UK launch of VINView Pro in partnership with AutoGrab, we are pleased to announce we are now expanding the availability of this product to a number of European markets and have started to develop this for release at the end of 2025.

Leasing and fleet news

On the leasing side of the business we have been busy putting together a meaty eBook entitled, ‘Steering towards long-term success: opportunities in the global automotive leasing industry’. It reviews the main challenges impacting the automotive leasing market and discusses how a data-led approach will help optimise fleet management, minimise risks, and seize emerging opportunities, ensuring resilience in the face of ongoing industry shifts.

Overview of local markets

As an established global company operating across 51+ countries, it stands to reason that there will be a lot happening in all the geographies that we have a presence in. That ongoing activity has brought about the aggregation of a lot of meaningful and actionable data that will be beneficial for you and your business. We’ve been busy putting together an overview of the regions we operate across, so read on to see what has been happening across Europe, Asia Pacific, and The Americas in the month of June.

Europe

Overall EU new car registrations were down 0.6% year-to-date, but up 1.6% year-on-year in May. The total number of cars registered in the month stood at 1,107,517, with a year-to-date total of 5.54 million (up 0.7% on 2024 numbers).

Battery-Electric Vehicles (BEVs) market share rose to 15.4%, up from 12.1% year-to-date in 2024. Top markets with growth: Germany (+43.2%), Belgium (+26.7%), Netherlands (+6.7%). France declined (–7.1%) and total units sold for the month stood at 701,089.

Hybrid-Electric Vehicles (HEVs) market share was up 35.1% (proving to be the most popular powertrain). There was also strong growth in France (+38.3%), Spain (+34.9%), Italy (+13.8%) and Germany (+12.1%) with a total number of units sold standing at 1.6 million.

Plug-in Hybrids (PHEVs) market share was also up to 8.2%, from 7.1% in 2024. This growth was driven by both Germany (+52.8%) and Spain (+66.6%) with the number of units totalling 375,182.

Internal Combustion Engines (Petrol + Diesel) continues to fall, combined market share dipping to 38.1%, from 48.5% in 2024.

Chinese brands’ EU market share doubled to 5.9%, with 65,808 units sold in May, growth persisting despite new EU tariffs also driven by a strong push in PHEVs and HEVs.

BYD overtook Tesla in BEV sales for the month, further cementing its strong march into the European sphere, with a total of 7,231 units compared to Tesla’s at 7,165 units. As a result, Tesla’s own market share fell 1.2%, declining for 5 straight months.

Asia Pacific

Chairman Yin Tongyue recently announced at the 2025 International Automotive and Supply Chain Expo (Hong Kong) on 12th June that Chery is set to become the first Chinese automaker to surpass five million cumulative vehicle exports later in the month.

Chery showcased 12 new energy vehicles (NEVs) across seven sub-brands – including Chery, Exeed, Jetour, iCAR, Luxeed, Omoda and Jaecoo (the latter two brands now making strong sales inroads across Europe) – covering various mobility needs from daily commuting to off-road exploration. This diverse lineup underlines Chery’s commitment to electrification and product variety.

From January to May 2025, Chery Group sold 1,026,517 vehicles, a 14% increase compared to last year. NEV sales jumped 111.5% year-on-year to 287,798 units, while exports reached 443,940 cars, reinforcing Chery’s position as China’s leading vehicle exporter.

Chinese electric vehicle maker Xiaomi has received more than a quarter of a million pre-orders for its first sport utility vehicles within an hour of launching. The thousands of pre-orders were for the Beijing-based tech giant's five-seater YU7. Xiaomi, sometimes referred to as China's Apple, is the world's second-largest smartphone manufacturer.

The YU7 is Xiaomi's second vehicle and one that undercuts Tesla's Model Y in price by nearly 4%, this vehicle itself currently heading China's best-selling SUV charts and potentially under serious threat of demotion. As expected, Xiaomi's move into electric vehicles is likely backed by strong government support.

Japan’s chief trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, has said the country can’t accept the U.S.’s 25% tariffs on cars, adding that the Asian nation’s automakers produce far more cars in the U.S. than they export to America. 

Japanese automakers make roughly 3.3 million cars in the U.S. a year, a number that’s far larger than the 1.37 million that they ship there, Akazawa recently told reporters. The companies have invested more than USD 60 billion in the U.S. and created 2.3 million local jobs, so is very heavily invested in the region.

The Americas

Mitsubishi Motors earlier in the month said it will hike prices of U.S. vehicles by 2.1% on average, the latest automaker to pass along cost increases to consumers as their expenses rise from the current administration's tariffs.

When President Trump imposed the tariff in April, Mitsubishi promptly suspended deliveries from ports to U.S. dealers. The Japanese automobile manufacturer said it resumed those deliveries in the last few weeks. The 2.1% average sales weighted price hike "is a direct result of our regular and ongoing review of pricing in order to ensure we are in-line with segment expectations," Mitsubishi said.

Mitsubishi's U.S. sales to the end of March 2025 were up 11% after sales in 2024 were 110,000, up 26% and the brand’s best U.S. sales performance since 2019.

Despite the disruption, Mitsubishi also said it will make significant global investments in new vehicles and new technologies, citing updates to the new models as well as their recent announcement concerning a new battery EV model planned for the U.S. market and the joint-development study with Nissan of a new vehicle to be built in the U.S. in due course.

Mazda will build its first EV at the company’s Hofu plant in Japan from 2027, using flexible production technologies to handle multiple powertrain types including gasoline, diesel, hybrid, and plug-in hybrids thus reducing costs.

Compared with setting up a line dedicated solely to EV production, Mazda says its new approach allows it to drastically cut investment by 85% and production lead times by 80%.

The EV kicks off Mazda’s push into pure electrics in the latter half of the 2020s. And the Hofu plant’s efficiency will help Mazda deflect the financial ramifications of the Trump administration’s 25% tariff levy on vehicle and auto part imports to the U.S.