Behind the wheel newsletter | Edition 3 | 2025

Tesla sales continue to fall, down approximately 40% across Europe in July compared with a year earlier as the EV company faces increasingly tough competition from its Chinese rivals, specifically BYD. 

According to figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), a total of 8,837 cars were sold across the EU and UK, compared to 14,769 at the same point last year. Conversely, new car registrations for BYD across Europe rose to 13,503 last month, compared with 4,151 a year earlier. BYD now has a 1.2% market share, Tesla’s share remains at 0.8%. 

As has been evident for the last few years post-Covid, Chinese car brands have been expanding aggressively in Europe. BYD outselling Tesla in Europe for the first time this spring. 

In the UK, the government said recently that Ford would be the first manufacturer to receive the maximum GBP 3,750 subsidy on two models: the Gen-E and the e-Tourneo Courier. A further 26 other models will be eligible for grants of GBP 1,500 under the government’s new electric car grant scheme. The grants apply only to vehicles with a list price of GBP 37,000 or below and is applied automatically at the point of sale. 

Separately, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said UK car production rose for a second month in a row in July, by 5.6%. Its chief executive said it was still a turbulent time in the market, with “consumer confidence weak, trade flows volatile and massive investment in new technologies under way both here and abroad”. 

ACEA also reported that in the first seven months of 2025, 1.01 million new battery-electric cars were registered, accounting for 15.6% of the EU market share. Hybrid-electric car registrations continue to be the positive step-change consumers make up to full EV, with 2.255m units sold across the EU so far this year. The rise was driven by growth in the four biggest markets: France, up 30.5%, Spain, up 30.2%, Germany, up 10.7, and Italy, up 9.4%. 

In a letter addressed to the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, European automotive manufacturers (ACEA) and suppliers (CLEPA), outlined their expectations for the upcoming Strategic Dialogue on the future of the European automotive industry. Since the adoption of the current CO2 reduction framework for road transport, the industrial, economic, and geopolitical realities have changed drastically. To achieve the EU’s climate ambitions, while also safeguarding Europe’s competitiveness, social cohesion and supply chain resilience, the strategy for the automotive sector must evolve accordingly. 

Export company, China EV Marketplace, announced it is launching a new door-to-door service for European customers, enabling them to purchase road-legal EVs directly from China. Previously, customers had to do the custom process themselves and pick up the EV at the port. The company also announced it will cease shipping to the US, as due to tariffs, sales have fallen rapidly, with sales of less than 30 EVs mainly for benchmarking. 

China EV Marketplace is the largest e-commerce store with Chinese EVs serving global customers, according to the company. It sold 7,000 EVs in the first six months of the year, up 66% from the same period last year. However, the surge was driven mainly by plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) sales, as unlike battery electric vehicles (BEVs, which are not subject to additional tariffs up to 35% from the EU. 

Ford is placing greater emphasis on its Ford Universal EV Platform, which will underpin as many as eight new low-cost models. Among the first in production will be a midsize pickup in 2027 and a small crossover in 2028 in the region. 

Larger EVs – a new full-size pickup to be built at BlueOval City in Tennessee and a redesigned van for Ohio Assembly – were pushed back to 2028 to give the smaller platform Ford’s full attention. Executives say EVs will be launched only if they can be profitable within one year, a goal it hasn’t achieved with its current Mustang Mach-E and    F-150 Lightning. 

At the same time, Ford announced plans to continue investing in and updating its profit-driving gasoline vehicles, although the venerable F-150 and some other next-generation products have been put on the back burner. It was stressed that Ford’s focus will be on adding derivatives to its popular Mustang, Bronco and Maverick sub-brands instead. The brand is also expected to expand its hybrid lineup, eventually adding extended-range EVs. 

Honda is weighing up how best to absorb US tariffs onimports from Canada and Mexico, a calculation complicated by the costs of shifting production and suppliers. Moving production entirely to the U.S. “is not that simple,” American Honda CEO Kazuhiro Takizawa recently told reporters. “It’s not just manufacturing in the United States,” Takizawa said. “We have to ask all our suppliers to come over.” In the case of some small suppliers, he said moving them would be more expensive than paying the tariffs.