Tesla’s Model Y leads the European new car market for the first time

• Tesla’s Model Y led the market, registering almost 29,400 units
• The overall market grew for the second consecutive month
• The market share for BEVs increased in September, the highest since December 2021

In September, the European new car market saw growth for the second consecutive month, following the 3.5% increase in total volume recorded in August. The number of registered units reached 1,038,481, up from 965,595 in September 2021– an increase of 7.5%. Volume remained stable during the third quarter of 2022, compared with the same period in 2021 at 2.65 million units, however this was considerably lower than Q3 in 2020 and 2019 at 3.44 and 3.66 million units, respectively.

Felipe Munoz, Global Analyst at JATO Dynamics, commented: “The market lost one million units per quarter over the last three years. While a catastrophe in terms of volume relative to production capacity, the majority of OEMs have now properly adapted to this new reality”. Year-to-date, volume decreased by almost 10% to 8,182,818 units, while registrations were 3.6% lower than January to September 2020, and 32% lower than the 12 million units registered during the first 9 months of 2019.

EVs on the rise again

After a period of slow growth, demand for pure electric cars (BEV) increased significantly in September with 160,869 units registered. Volume increased by 15%, accounting for 15.6% of the total registrations – the second largest monthly market share after December 2021.

While Norway and Italy saw decreases of 17% and 42%, Europe’s largest markets continued to show positive results. Germany led the way accounting for 27% of the total European demand – an increase in volume of 29%. The UK followed with volume up by 16% and a 24% market share. In third place was France with 14% of the market and an increase in volume of 32%. In September, these three markets combined totalled 60% of the European BEV demand.

In September, Tesla performed particularly well – a trend we have seen during the last month of each quarter – accounting for just over one in four of the BEVs registered in Europe. With the Model Y being produced in Germany, Tesla was able to offset the 50% decrease posted by the Model 3. The midsize sedan continued to struggle, mostly due to a lack of stock coming from China, and the increasing popularity of its SUV counterpart. Compared with Q3 2021, Tesla saw a volume increase of 17%, almost double the volume of Q3 2020, and 77% higher than Q3 2019.

Excluding Tesla, MG was among the top 10 brands with highest percentage of BEVs as part of total registrations at 42%. In second place, Renault followed with 18%.

The volume of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) increased by 7% compared to September 2021with 87,712 registered units.

The Tesla Model Y leads for the first time

As we have seen in both China and the US, the Tesla Model Y is now outselling the Model 3 in Europe – the world’s best-selling BEV in 2021. With 29,367 registered units, up by a staggering 227%, the Model Y accounted for almost 3 in every 100 new cars registered in Europe last month, marking the first time that the SUV has led the European ranking. In Germany, the Model Y outsold the Volkswagen Golf to lead the overall ranking, and of the 27 markets, it was the best-selling BEV in other 14 markets.

In second place was the Peugeot 208, while other strong performers include the Skoda Octavia, Volkswagen T-Roc, and Nissan Qashqai which re-entered the top 10.

Further down the ranking, several models recorded significant increases, notably the Kia Sportage (+53%), Ford Kuga (+89%), Volkswagen Tiguan (+58%), Ford Fiesta (+87%), Cupra Formentor (+97%), Audi A3 (+70%), Renault Megane (+119%), Peugeot 308 (+175%), Mercedes C-Class (+203%), Mercedes CLA (+52%), Mercedes GLA (+157%).

Among the latest introductions, the Dacia Jogger registered 5,906 units, while others include the Volkswagen Taigo (5,326 units), Cupra Born (3,443 units), Mazda CX-60 (2,759 units), BMW i4 (2,429 units), Volkswagen ID.5 (2,245 units),  Volvo C40 (1,911 units), Mercedes EQB (1,882 units), Alfa Romeo Tonale (1,574 units), DS 4 (1,428 units), Citroen C5 X, (1,147 units), Nissan Ariya (1,047 units), and Mercedes EQE (1,005 units).

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