Tesla accelerates growth in May as Europe’s biggest market share winner

• Tesla secures record volume in May with 2.63% market share
• The overall market grew by 18% but remains short of pre-pandemic levels
• BEV demand up by 65% led by Volkswagen Group

According to JATO Dynamics data for 28 European markets, new vehicle registrations totalled 1,116,472 in May – an 18% increase on the 943,435 in the same month last year. This takes the year-to-date total to 5.3 million units, up by 17%. Felipe Munoz, Global Analyst at JATO Dynamics, commented:  “While BEVs and SUVs continue to drive the recovery of the industry, growth across all segments has not been enough to bring total volume back to pre-pandemic levels.” Total volume year-to-date fell short of the 6.93 million units registered in the same period in 2019, and was similar to the levels seen in 2021 when markets still recovering from lockdowns were hit by the semi-conductor shortage.

Tesla outpaces rivals

In May, Tesla was the best performing OEM winning 2.63% of the market. In the same month last year, the US manufacturer’s market share was just 0.15%, however this was due to supply issues which caused registrations to drop. Last month, Tesla registered close to 29,400 units, significantly higher than the monthly total seen in May 2021 (8,810 units), May 2020 (2,757 units), and May 2019 (4,087 units). Munoz, added: “By making use of incentives and good market position, Tesla has been able to outperform its rivals, while part of the brand’s success is also explained by continuous price cuts.”

In the BEV segment, Tesla’s market share totaled 17.4% and 18.9% year-to-date, up from 12.2% in the same period last year – the largest market share increase by a significant magin at 6.7 points. SAIC, the owner of MG and Maxus, followed with an increase of 2.8 points, and in third place Volkswagen Group secured a market share increase of 2.7 points. In contrast, Hyundai-Kia lost 5.6 points of share through May, followed by Stellantis, down by 3.4 points.

Total BEV registrations increased by 65% in May to 169,091 units accounting for 15% of all new vehicle registrations during the month. In addition to the success of the Model Y – Europe’s best-selling car between January and May – the market is also being shaken by the MG 4, which secured a record third position in the BEV ranking by model with 6,310 units, ahead of its rival the Volkswagen ID.3 with 5,529 units. The Volkswagen ID.4 also performed well with 8,543 units (+103%) as the second most popular BEV of the month. There were also strong increases for the Volvo XC40 BEV (+329%), BMW i4 (+123%), and the BMW iX1, all of which entered the top in the BEV ranking by model in May.

The Dacia Sandero leads again

The low-cost model from Dacia again secured the top spot in the overall ranking by model with more than 21,700 units – up by 78% with sales were boosted by strong increases in key markets included France, Italy, Spain, and Germany. Munoz, continued: “While the Model Y plays its role in the electric high-end EV segments, the Sandero has continues to gain traction in the low-end ICE segments.”

The Tesla Model Y followed in second place with 21,530 units, up by 1838% compared with May 2022. Munoz, added: “The popularity of the Model Y has been confirmed in Europe, and it stands a good chance of leading both the European and global ranking model ranking by the end of the year.”

Among the latest launches, Renault registered 7,174 units of the Austral, becoming the brand’s fourth best-selling vehicle; Jeep registered 4,290 units of the Avenger, offsetting the drops posted by the Compass (-41%) and Renegade (-32%), to become its best-seller in May; Alfa Romeo registered 3,240 units of the Tonale, accounting for 69% of the brand’s total volume; and Peugeot registered 1,923 units of the 408.

You can see the full rankings by OEM, brand, model and segments by submitting the form below: