BMW Overtakes Tesla for the Top Spot in the European Electric Vehicle Market

Tesla, the brand that has dominated the European electric vehicle market with its Model 3 and Model Y, has ceded its top position to BMW for the month of July. The German manufacturer registered 14,869 zero-emission cars last month, while its American rival trailed by 308 units.

According to analysts at Jato Dynamics, sales of this type of propulsion have fallen by 6% year-on-year, which they attribute to a lack of government incentives and consumer hesitancy due to prices that are still too high compared to their thermal counterparts.

The best-selling model in Europe was still the Model Y, followed by the Volvo EX30 and the Volkswagen ID.4, with 6,573 and 5,295 sales, respectively.

The total market grew by 2% compared to the same month in 2023, reaching 1.03 million units, and 54% of them were SUVs. This type of silhouette is now available under any brand and in any price segment, which favors their adoption.

In overall sales, the Dacia Sandero continues to reign from its hegemonic position, reaching 22,398 registrations in July, followed by the Volkswagen T-Roc (19,254) and the Toyota Yaris Cross (17,314).

Electric vehicles are a key element in the strategy of brands to avoid the hefty fines they face in 2025 if they do not meet the emission thresholds set by Brussels. These vary for each manufacturer but average at 93.6 grams of CO2 per kilometer traveled.

The problem is that those who are currently close to meeting these limits are groups whose offerings are primarily electric, such as Tesla or Geely, parent company of Volvo, Polestar, and Smart.

Toyota, which mainly offers hybrids, is the traditional brand closest to the threshold, but Ford and Volkswagen are in a position that raises doubts about their ability to reach it since both presented more than 120 grams at the end of June.