July 2024 witnessed a slowdown in electric vehicle (EV) registrations across Europe, with BMW claiming to have surpassed Tesla as the leading battery electric vehicle (BEV) brand for the first time. Demand for cars overall, is now heading back to pre-lockdown levels, but EV sales reduced ahead of the new number plates being issued in the UK.
The European automotive market saw a modest 2% increase in overall vehicle registrations in July 2024 compared to the same period last year. According to data from JATO Dynamics, a total of just over 1 million units were registered across 28 European markets, bringing the total number of year-to-date registrations to nearly 7.9 million. This growth was not uniform across the region, with notable increases in countries such as Poland (+19%), Portugal (+27%), and Slovakia (+12%). The United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain also saw slight growth in vehicle registrations, each reporting a 3-5% rise.
However, the situation was different in some of Europe’s larger markets. Registrations declined in Germany (-2%), France (-2%), Belgium (-7%), the Netherlands (-4%), and Ireland (-5%). These declines indicate that while some markets are buoyant, others are experiencing a deceleration in demand.
BMW now leading the BEV market?
In a significant development within the BEV sector, BMW appears to have emerged as the market leader in July 2024, overtaking Tesla, which has traditionally held the top spot. BMW registered 179,557 fully electric vehicles in the first half of the year, marking a 34.1% increase compared to the same period in 2023. This growth contrasts with Tesla’s performance, which saw a 16% year-on-year decline in July…
